Splatoon Agent Zero
by drz1990
Summary: This is a story about a 16-year-old boy named Blake Carter who witnesses the end of his world. He, his family, and a few hundred humans disembark on a voyage aboard a giant spacecraft to escape the rising sea levels flooding all the landmasses. A turn of events and a devious plan are revealed causing Blake to escape the ship in a Cryopod and land back on earth frozen for 2000 years
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**NOTE: This is my first fanfic so bear with me. I've read many Splatoon-based fanfics, unfortunately, many of them unfinished and pretty good. I'll try my best to finish this one and publish each chapter no longer than a monthly release. Hope you enjoy it.**

My name is Blake Carter, me and my family have been witnessing the end of our world. Rising sea levels are threatening life on earth as we know it and many world leaders are deciding what to do. Shrinking landmasses pushes humanity into resource wars and battling over the shrinking landmasses. The wars cause world leaders to lose track on how to save mankind from the rising sea levels. A company known as the Kamabo Corporation funds a project known as the Ark Polaris a giant shuttle-like spacecraft intended to house a few hundred people that are fortunate to escape the rising seawaters, but in order for mankind to survive the voyage, the company orders the construction of cryostasis pods that will suspend the humans during the trip into space and to orbit around the earth for the humans to wait for seawaters to recede and the landmasses to reemerge for resettlement.

* * *

"Blake" I heard a voice call as I was sitting in my room watching the news. It was my father, his name is Dr. James Carter and he worked for a company known as the Kamabo Corporation.

"Yeah Dad," I said as I looked at my father in the doorway of my room.

"We'll be leaving soon, so do you have all your stuff packed up?" My father asked.

"Yeah, Dad'" I said. "Dad, When will we return?" I asked him.

"I don't know" he answered. He sat on the bed beside me watching the TV for a moment then turning towards me with a distressed look. "Son, I'm sorry about everything that's been going on in the world, but we have to pray for the best." my dad said and hugged me. He got up and started to walk out. "I'm going to go check on your mother and I hope your sister is back from visiting her boyfriend...for the last time." He said as he left out the door of my bedroom.

I looked down towards the floor, thoughts running through my mind. I turn and lay on my bed and sigh just hoping things get better. I soon close my eyes and doze off for a few hours. I wake up to my dad slightly shaking me. "wake up son, your sister's back and we're about to leave." he says.

"Okay dad," I said and get up, grabbing my suitcases as me and my family headed out the door. I look back as we leave in the car at my home. I had a gloomy look on my face, as we got further and further away from the house. I turn back around and look at the floor of the car.

My sister turns towards me and says "Blake, things aren't all bad, at least we'll be able to get away from all the flooding, but I'm very sorry for all the people who won't be to escape though."

I turn towards my sister with a distressed look, "Yeah, but I'll miss our home and all the things that we've done. I guess you're right sis, I hope things get better. It's going to be strange being on that giant spaceship in those cryo pod things that dad designed for that company he's working for." Blake says.

The family witnesses all the chaos ensuing as they make their way to the launch site of the Ark Polaris the spaceship designed to house and take what remnants of mankind it can hold from their flooding world.

* * *

The Ark Polaris was huge and many people were already loading on it. We arrived and were greeted by some of the crew of the project.

A representative of the Kamabo Corporation shook my dad's hand. "Dr. Carter, my name is director Steve Irons and I'm proud to meet you. I hope the cryostasis pods you designed holds up during our orbit around the earth. I a lot has been put into this and I want nothing to fail." The director says.

"I should hope not Mr. Irons" my dad answers. "I and my family are ready for the voyage" my dad continues.

"Everything is ready Dr. Carter, I hope you and your family will be content during the trip. You do remember the ship has a 2000 year orbital period and after that many of our systems will shut down and the Ark Polaris will descend down back towards the Earth. I hope the sea waters recede before then Dr. Carter." The director says.

"I hope so too director, but we must be prepared for anything" my dad responds. Me and my family make our way to the ramp that entered the spacecraft. My dad looks back at director Irons. The director waves with an ensuring look. My dad waves with a forced smile as he enters the ship.

The director's expression soon changes as my dad is out of sight. Director Irons narrows his eyes and says to himself "I'll ensure that mankind survives one way or another, no matter the costs." The director walks away preparing for the voyage.

* * *

The ship prepares for launch as it makes its way to the runway. I look out the window as I saw multiple crew members getting into places for the launch. I look back towards the front of my seat and then turn towards my family sitting beside me.

"Dad," I asked.

"Yes, son" he answered.

"Dad, how long will we be up there?" I asked again.

"I'm not so sure son, I pray the waters will go back down in time and we can return." He responded.

"I hope so, Dad. I already miss home." I said.

"Me too, son" My dad replied.

I lay back in my seat and slowly close my eyes and fall asleep. Hours pass, I slowly open my eyes and turn my head towards my family, but dad wasn't in his seat. My sister was beside me asleep with her head slouched over and my mom was reading a book on the other side of her.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Yes, son" my mom replies.

"Where's dad at?", I asked again.

"He was asked by one crew members to go with him to go talk with director Irons" she answered.

"How long has he been gone?" I asked.

"for nearly an hour now" she answered.

"well a lot has been running through my mind mom and I wanted to talk to him about some things," I said.

"Well son I don't know when he'll be back," she replied.

So I decided to go look for him. My mom looks at me and I look back. She says "well be careful son, we'll be getting in those cryostasis pods your father designed soon. Then we'll be orbiting around the earth." "I will mom" I answered back at her.

I continue walking away towards the crew's quarters. There is no one in sight and I progress further into the quarters. As I keep walking I hear loud voices coming from the far end of the corridor in another large room. I walk through the doorway and hide behind a computer console and raise my head. It was Director Irons and my Dad with two other suited men.

* * *

"I'm not asking, I'm telling you, Dr. Carter, to place the serum in the life support systems connected to the cryostasis pods you designed. Your the only one who knows how. Now I won't tell you again." demanded director Irons.

"I won't do it for the last time, I don't what the effects will cause to people aboard this ship. I have seen the effects it had on the sea life you tested it on." My dad responded.

"The test showed that the sea life had enhanced cognitive skills as well as increased intelligence. This is the only way to ensure survival. Predictions show that sea levels won't drop for well ahead of the 2000 year orbital period. We have to adapt to the new aquatic world that we'll have to face when the ship descends back to earth." The director says.

"Who came up with these predictions, we don't when the sea levels will drop back down. We can't go by "predictions". My dad asked rashly.

"The AI we installed on the ship codenamed: Tartar" explained the director.

"What? Tartar? An AI?" questioned my dad.

A giant computer screen came on beside the group. The screen glowed blue with grid lines. Soon circles and a horizontal line appeared making a face like appear. The screen talked as the horizontal line turned into a zigzagged line as it talked in a static-like voice. "This serum will ensure the survival of mankind by 90%. Knowledge of technology and history has been downloaded into the computer network to be passed down to the future generations to come." the AI tartar exclaimed.

Another man in a white lab coat appeared from the shadows along with a fat cat walking beside him.

* * *

Moments have passed since I watched the devious plot unfold in front of me, still hiding behind the console.

"I'm Professor Jones, I created this AI to help us survive the orbit while we are in the cryostasis pods and our resettlement on the earth."He explained. "Tartar is right, the sea levels will not recede during our orbit around the earth. The only thing to do is insert the serum in the life systems and adapt to the new watery world to come." The professor responded again.

"Do It!, Its the only way!" demanded the director.

"Never!" my dad yelled back. "I don't know what the serum will do to us!" my dad yelled again.

"We have no other options, we're all doomed with if we do nothing!" yelled the director.

"You're all going to put our lives in the hands of this AI or Tartar or whatever!?" my dad responded.

"You have no choice in the matter. Do it or I will abduct your family and hold them until you follow my commands". the director exclaimed.

"You wouldn't!" my dad jeered.

"Test me" the director responded as he gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

"Fine!, but if anything happens, especially to my family, I will hunt you down and kill you," my dad says in a commanding voice.

The director just smirked and turned away.

As I watched I was panicking, I wanted to do something. Just then the professor's cat meowed and slowly walked towards my direction.

"Who's there?!", the director demanded.

I was panicking more just then the cat came around the corner of the console and purred rubbing its head against my side.

"All right, come out!" yelled the director.

The two other men started closing in on my location getting ready to grab me. I raised my head up and slowly walked out.

"Son?!", my dad yelled.

"Get him!" the director commanded at the men. "He knows too much!" the director yells again.

"Son! Get out here! Warn everyone!" my dad commanded.

"Get the doctor out of here! He has a job to do." He commanded the professor.

I run through the door and down the corridor through the crew quarters only to be blocked by another man who attempts to capture me. I turn down another corridor narrowly escaping the man and enter the cryostasis pod housing area. I wait until a get out of sight of the men and get inside one of the pods and close the hatch. As the men run past the pod I was hiding and I waited for them to get away from the area.

* * *

My dad was put in a holding room by the professor. "professor Jones, I can't believe you would install the AI on this ship and I can't believe you would go along Iron's plans!" my dad commanded.

"That AI tartar is still flawed and you're unwilling to admit it professor" my dad exclaimed.

"And you're unwilling to see the big picture doctor. There is no guarantee of our survival unless we use the serum that I created, it's for the best" says the professor as he is picking up the obese cat.

The professor turns away towards a small cryostasis pod. The professor injects the cat with a syringe of an unknown liquid and places the cat in the pod. the cat looks at the professor with a questioned look and meows and paws at the professor's head. The professor chuckles and says "for the future, have a safe trip, my furry friend". The professor places the cat in the small cryostasis pod and shuts it. The cat slowly freezes into inanimate suspension. The saddened professor slowly gets up and turns towards my dad.

"You were attached to that cat professor, what did you inject him with? " my dad questioned.

"A modified version of the serum, similar to the stuff used on the sea life we conducted test on in the lab and then released." the professor answered.

"Wait...you released those sea creatures back into the ocean with that serum in them?" my dad says baffled.

"Yes doctor, We've also injected this version of the serum on a bear on board this ship." the professor exclaims.

"A bear?!, whats a bear doing on this ship! and why would you inject it with that serum" my dad says baffled again.

"To observe the effects of the serum on a powerful aggressive predator. I'm curious about what the serum would do to it." said the professor.

"professor Jones this has to stop. The serum is unpredictable and..." dad said as he was cut off.

The director walked in. "You will do this! did you forget about your family." the director said. "As soon my men find your son, we're going to..." the director said cut off.

"All right! I'll do it! But if you do anything to my son..." said Dr. Carter as he layed his head down and gave a long sigh. I'll...show you to the life support systems for the pods." said my dad in distress.

"I knew you'd see things my way. Now move!" demanded the director. My dad turned around and gave him a quick hateful glare and continued walking towards the life support systems with the professor and director in tow.

* * *

I was struggling to open the hatch on the cryostasis pod. It was dark and I almost couldn't see inside the pod. I looked to my right near the edge of the hatch. It was a red lever. I couldn't read what it was for but I pulled it back hoping it was the hatch release. Instead of opening a red light on the ceiling came on and a voice on the intercom came on. "Emergency escape release engaged. prepare for release." the intercom said. The pod was making a weird noise and started to vibrate. I held back in the seat and clinched as I tried to hold on to something. Soon the pod shot out of a tube and was jettisoned into space. "What's going on!", I yelled seeing nothing but stars and blackness out of the hatch window.

Meanwhile, on the main control deck, the crew notice a red light flashing on the dashboard of the ship's controls.

"What? One of the self-sustaining emergency cryo pods has been launched outside the ship. Get someone down to the cryo pod chambers immediately and see what's going on." said one of the crew members. "I want a headcount of all personnel ASAP.," said crew member again.

The pod was hovering outside the ship for minutes, but as the ship moved away and down its orbiting path the pod slowly started descending faster and faster. "Dad! Mom! Sis! NOOOO!" I yelled. "There's nothing I can do. I'm stuck in this pod!" I cried. The pod was falling faster and getting enveloped in flames from entering the atmosphere. I started getting nauseous and losing conscienceness.

I was fighting to keep my eyes open and throwing up. I could see the ocean getting closer and closer. SPLASH! the pod hit the water making me jump and hit my head on the ceiling of the pod. I laid in my seat dazed and shortly blackened out. I could only think of my family and if I was going to see them again. I mumbled and drifted into sleep. "Cryostasis begin. Occupant suspended for bzzzttt...error...2000 years until thawing process. Communication with computer systems disabled...unable to connect." said the pod's intercom voice.

Moments passed as the pod slowly sank down hitting and landing on a drifting underwater iceberg. I was frozen in time unsure about my fate I could only pray that the Ark Polaris sends someone back down to rescue me, but things were looking bleak and at that point, I knew I would never see my family again. The impact from the pod's ceiling caused me to slowly lose the memories of who I was and my family and the fun times we had before the floods and the chaos. Then my mind eventually went blank and there was nothing I could do.

The pod continued to ride the iceberg for some good time, until getting closer to the north pole or what was left of it. The pod froze over on the outside going through a cryostasis itself and freezing on the drifting iceberg. The pod was soon enveloped with ice and became a permanent part of the large ice mass. This carried on for years to come. In time water levels were slowly dropping to where some of the landmasses started to emerge out of the sea waters. The iceberg soon shrunk and eventually melted as it drifted back down to warmer waters. The pod was free and soon drifted on its own until it was pushed on a beach from the ocean waves.

2000 years of a long sleep have finally ended and the pod thawed out. Soon the thawing process was activated inside the pod. I was still out and my mind was slowly recovering. I started gaining my conscienceness, but my eyes refuse to open. I started gaining my senses again as I could hear the water hitting the side of the pod. where am I? What happened? were thoughts running through my head. I could hardly move my body and just laid there trying to piece everything together. Minutes passed, as I laid there I could hear footsteps, their running towards the beached pod.

Who is that? Is what I was thinking. The unknown person was tapping the side of the pod.

Another minute passes and the person climbed on the pod tapping on the glass window on the glass trying to wipe it off to look inside. Mumbling could be heard outside of the pod. I couldn't understand them, but it seems like they were trying to open the pod. I tried to open my eyes but everything was still blurry. I could slowly move my body around still curious about the person trying to open the pod.

Banging could be heard outside the hatch. Soon the hatch opened to my surprise. Sunlight beamed through the doorway of the pod and the silhouette of a figure slowly approached the doorway of the pod. The figure had a gargled voice that I couldn't understand. Maybe my senses haven't completely come back.

The figure waved in front of me to get my attention or see if I was awake or not. The figure spoke again in an unrecognized dialect. "what?" I said weakly. "Wu wy?" the figure responded back. I opened my eyes a little wider and when I finally gained my sight back I could make out the figure.

What? What's going on? What are you!? That was all I could think when I got a good look at the figure. My senses came back from the sudden fear and shock from the encounter. I jerked back and screamed "AAAHHHHH!". "WAAAAHHHH!" the strange figure yelled and jumped back and landed on its butt in the sand in front of the pod.

**NOTE: I know in the Splatoon universe it's 12000 years that the earth flooded and humans went extinct before the inklings and octarians inhabited the land. I felt 12000 years was an unrealistic period of time for humans to have technology that sustains them during a long period like that, so I knocked down 10000 years. Seemed more reasonable. **

**NOTE: I'll try not put too long of a waiting period between the arcs and chapters. I'm new at this and different factors could cause hiccups. hope you enjoy it.**


	2. Arc 1 Chapter 1

**Arc 1 Chapter 1 The New World**

**NOTE: This chapter is a little short, but it is more less an introduction between Blake and Cuttlefish and, his friend Octavio. I hope its a good read.**

It was a warm sunny day, as the roar of waves could be heard and seagulls flying overhead. It seemed like a normal day for anyone on a calm relaxing beach on a day like today, but fate would soon change that causing two different beings that would seem worlds apart to meet for the first time, that would change their lives forever.

A figure can be seen walking down a beach kicking driftwood and debris as it was walking. The figure appears human, but with obvious differences.

It had blonde tentacles instead of hair on its head. A pair of tentacles were tied in a ponytail. Its face had a mask-like marking around its large eyes. Its ears were large and pointed and when it stopped to stretch its arms and yawn, it revealed 3 sharp fangs in its mouth. 2 on top and 1 centered on the bottom.

He was wearing a newsboy style faded cap on its head. A faded collared shirt with brown pants being held up by suspenders.

Looking down as it is walking along, something catches its eye and it raises its head. Excited the figure rushed towards what appeared to be some sort of cylinder-shaped contraption with a hatch and small window on it. The figure tapped the large object and soon climbed on top of it.

* * *

Another figure came running from the direction the first figure came from. This creature had a similar appearance to the first one, but its tentacles were shaped differently.

The tentacles came down and curled covering more of its head. Its eyes were differently colored with purple outlines around them, instead of a black mask like the first figure.

It wore a cloth band around its forehead and wore a Japanese style robe with a sash around its waist and wooden sandals.

"Hey, there you are!" the second figure yelled. "I've been looking all over for you...what are you doing on that thing!" the second figure yelled again.

"I'm trying to figure out what it is Octavio" The first figure responded.

"Cuttlefish you don't know what that thing is!" Octavio exclaimed.

Cuttlefish then kneeled down tapping the hatch and wiping off the small glass window. "I can't see what's in it. I'm going to try and open it," says Cuttlefish.

"That might not be a good idea, "says Octavio.

Then Cuttlefish hit the hatch with a large piece of driftwood that was laying near by.

The large metal object starts making noises. Cuttlefish jumps down and the hatch on the object opens to reveal someone inside. Cuttlefish looks insides waving his hand at the figure.

The figure's eyes slowly open wider and looks straight at him. The figure screams and cringes back against the seat and Cuttlefish screams back jumping backward, landing on the sand behind him.

"Cuttlefish are you ok!" asked Octavio.

"Yeah, I'm fine Octavio," says Cuttlefish being helped by Octavio. Cuttlefish rubs his butt and looks back at the large metal pod. He and Octavio slowly creep towards the pod, but when the figure peers out of the hatch, He and Octavio back up confused and scared of what the figure was. The figure looks at them and lowers its head.

"Hey! don't be afraid," exclaims Cuttlefish towards the figure. "We won't hurt you," says Cuttlefish while approaching the metal pod.

"Cuttlefish wait! We don't know what that creature is?" says a worrying Octavio while placing his hand on Cuttlefish's shoulder. "And I don't think it understands us," says Octavio.

"yeah, I think your right," says Cuttlefish. "So, what do we do?" asks Cuttlefish.

* * *

Blake was crouched down in the pod with his head slightly peeking over the hatch opening trying to figure out what the creatures were.

They were talking in some sort of gargled language to each other that he couldn't make out. The two creatures then turned and looked at him and Blake ducked back down out of sight.

He could hear footsteps approaching the pod, unsure what to do he places his hands on top of his head and tears start to form in his eyes worried he may get captured or even eaten. He looks up to see the blonde tentacled figure place his hand out for a handshake.

"Huh?" Blake thought. The creature smiled exposing its fangs while the other figure just stared, but backed further away. Utterly shocked and confused by the gesture from the blonde tentacled creature, Blake slowly and nervously stuck his hand out and shook the creature's hand.

The creature then pulls Blake out of the pod. The other creature backs up behind the blonde tentacled figure with a nervous expression. Blake was unsure how to make out the situation. The creature seemed pretty friendly so far with the creature behind him keeping its guard up.

"Octavio don't be bashful, this creature seems to be friendly, though it does seem scared of us," says Cuttlefish.

"That's easy for you to say, you're always taking risks Cuttlefish, well not me. I don't know what that creature is," says a distressed Octavio.

"Oh come on, lighten up Octavio. Just hold your hand out and offer to shake its hand. I don't think it'll bite you." says Cuttlefish with reassurance.

"Fiiiiine...I'll shake its hand," says a frustrated Octavio. Octavio holds out his hand and the figure, like it was with Cuttlefish cautiously reaches out and slowly shakes Octavio's hand. Octavio shows some relief. "Huh, his hand is warm, interesting," says Octavio.

"Yeah, I noticed that too, I wonder if it got sick in that metal thing?" says Cuttlefish.

"Well...What do we do now?" asks Octavio.

"I don't know. I don't think we can take it back to the village. Everyone will be scared out of their minds if they saw it." says Cuttlefish.

"Your right, but we can't leave it here to fend for itself" exclaims Octavio.

"starting to care about it, are we Octavio," says a smirking Cuttlefish while elbowing Octavio.

"No! I'm just stating the fact that it is an unknown creature and can't be left alone is all," says a frustrated Octavio.

"Sure Octavio, but we got to think of a plan to get him back to my place without getting caught," says Cuttlefish with his thumb under his chin.

* * *

Blake is watching the two creatures talk to each other unsure what they are saying in their gargled dialect.

Confused, Blake then looks around at his settings and back at the Cryo pod that suspended him for 2000 years and walked towards it while the creatures were too busy talking to each other. He looks inside and spots a compartment inside the pod and opens it. Inside are different devices as well as flares and a first aid kit.

One device catches his attention it looks sort of like a mechanical spider. A booklet under it reads Translator with a picture of it on top of a person's head.

Blake studies the device and places it on his head. The device turns on and jolts Blake in surprise. Blake reads the pamphlet and discovers a button on top of the device to scan individuals of different languages in front of the user so the user could learn their language.

Blake looked back over to the creatures, still talking among themselves. Blake walks back over towards them and presses the button. A beam-like light scans the creatures.

The creatures jerk back and yell while freezing from the beam in utter shock. The device sparks and crackles and flies off Blake's head stunning him. Blake falls backward into the sand with the top of his head and spider-like device smoking.

* * *

"What was that!" a shocked Cuttlefish says.

"I don't know!" responds Octavio.

They both scan and check themselves unsure what that beam of light was. They look down towards Blake laying spread out on the sand with the top of his head smoking.

"What the! Hey! Are you OK!" yelled Cuttlefish at Blake. "Mmmm" was all that Blake could get out.

Cuttlefish kneels down and holds up Blake shaking him. "Hey! Hey! Are you OK! Answer me!" yelled Cuttlefish.

"Uuuhhh, my head. Yeah, I think so..." says Blake. Blake with a look of shock on his face. "WWWAAAHHH! I CAN UNDERSTAND YOU!" screams Blake. "AAHHH...Wait! I can understand you too!" yells cuttlefish.

Bewildered, Octavio is in utter surprise. "How can you speak our language?!" asked Octavio in shock.

"That device allowed me to speak your language, that's what that beam of light was from," explained Blake.

The three of them looked at the smoking device. "I think I broke it," says Blake. Octavio picks up the device. "Interesting," says Octavio holding up the device, but drops it when it shocks his hand.

"Well since you can speak our language and we can understand each other. You mind telling me what you are and what you were doing in that contraption?" asked Cuttlefish.

Blake still dazed told Cuttlefish that he was a human.

"A human!" yelled Cuttlefish.

"Wait, humans have been extinct for some time, how is this possible," exclaimed Octavio.

"I don't know. I don't remember anything besides waking up out of that metal pod I was in." says a weary Blake.

"What are two suppose to be and what's with your hair and teeth?" asks Blake.

"Well I'm an inkling and my name is Cuttlefish and this is Octavio and he is an octarian" explains Cuttlefish.

"An inkling? Octarian? What?" says a confused Blake.

"We'll explain later," says Cuttlefish rubbing the back of his head. "Well what's your name human," asked Cuttlefish.

"I don't know, like I said I don't remember anything," says Blake.

"Not even your name, huh," says Cuttlefish.

* * *

Octavio walks over towards the metal pod and studies it. "Did this thing keep you alive all this time somehow." says a curious Octavio. "Fascinating. We have discovered ancient human technology, but nothing like this," says Octavio.

"Who cares about that thing Octavio. A living human is standing before us and I still can't believe it" says Cuttlefish excitingly.

Octavio still studying the metal pod walks back over to Cuttlefish and Blake. "Well being he can talk to us, his discovery to the rest of the village will hopefully go better than we thought or maybe try to sneak him in somehow," says Octavio.

"I think for now we'll just have to keep him out of sight. We'll take the back way to my cabin, away from the village," says Cuttlefish.

"Cuttlefish you know how treacherous that path is and that he can't squid jump from place to place," exclaims Octavio. "Squid jump?" questioned Blake. "It allows us to jump at great height and distances in our other form" explains Cuttlefish. "Other...form?" says a bewildered Blake.

"Let's just show him Cuttlefish," says Octavio. Cuttlefish and Octavio bend down and transform into a squid and octopus-like creatures. "What the?!" Blake says in total shock and confusion falling back and on the ground. The two transform back to their bipedal forms. "like I said we'll explain later" Cuttlefish says rubbing the back of his head.

The three of them left the beach and towards a small dirt path that lead through a forest.

Blake was admiring the scenery of the forest they were walking through and then turns towards Cuttlefish.

"So...you live out here by yourself?" asked Blake.

"Well no bucko, there are other inklings and octarians that live in the village further in the valley," replied Cuttlefish.

"Wait...there's more of you guys?!" said a shocked Blake.

"Yeah, but not just inklings and octarians, there's also other walking and talking sea life as well,"

"How is that possible?" asked Blake bewildered.

"Well by what I've learned from our history, is that our ancestors, years ago walked out of the ocean and started a new life on land," explained Cuttlefish.

"How did that happen?" asked Blake curiously.

"I'm...not too sure, but it did," replied Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish then turned to Octavio who had been quiet with his eyes closed and arms crossed while walking. "Octavio, you haven't said a word since we've been walking," said Cuttlefish.

Octavio perked up and turned back to Cuttlefish, "huh...oh nothing, just thinking about how we're going to explain Blake to the rest of the village," responded Octavio. Then he turned his head back towards the path.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Octavio," replied Cuttlefish.

* * *

Blake, Cuttlefish, and Octavio finally reach Cuttlefish's cabin. Blake was looking over the cabin. The cabin was pretty quaint and simple, built with wood and a tin roof on top. The cabin also had some old junk laying around it with a couch sitting near the front door. Blake turned around and seen Octavio and Cuttlefish shake hands.

"Well I gotta get going, I'll see you tomorrow," says Octavio as he leaves and waves goodbye to Blake and Cuttlefish. "Alright, Octavio" Cuttlefish replies waving back.

Blake and Cuttlefish enter the cabin. The cabin was small, but roomy on the inside. "Well make yourself at home bucko," says Cuttlefish to Blake. Blake sits on an old couch, soon his stomach growls. "sounds like your hungry, I've got just the thing for that. Krabby cakes" says Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish goes into the kitchen and retrieves a large Krabby cake from the old-timey fridge he had and tosses it to Blake.

Blake sees all kinds of junk and knick-knacks around the inside of the cabin. He sees an old grandfather clock backed against the wall as well as an old box TV with rabbit ears on top of it, wondering where Cuttlefish came across this stuff. He then turns back towards Cuttlefish digging through the fridge.

"Umm...what's a Krabby cake? questioned Blake. Just then Cuttlefish walks over and places the cake in Blake's hands. "That's a Krabby cake, just eat it." says Cuttlefish. "ok," says Blake and hesitantly takes a bite of the cake. "wow this isn't bad. it's pretty good," says Blake as he was eating the cake.

After eating Cuttlefish explains to Blake more about the inklings and octarians and how they settled in the valley. Cuttlefish also reveals that the valley also housed the ancient ruins of what he believed was a human settlement where the village now sits. Blake is utterly intrigued by this and continues to listen to Cuttlefish on other things about this new world he was in.

As it was getting late Cuttlefish directed Blake to a pair of hammocks in his bedroom. "Here you go bucko, I got a spare hammock set up for you to sleep on," says Cuttlefish pointing to the spare hammock. Blake climbed in the hammock as Cuttlefish climbed in his.

"Hey Cuttlefish," asked Blake. "Yeah, bucko" responded Cuttlefish. "Thanks for taking me in and getting me out of that pod on the beach," says Blake. "Your welcome, " yawned Cuttlefish. "I'm tired I can't wait for tomorrow, " says Cuttlefish as he rolls around his hammock. "Goodnight Cuttlefish. I hope I can get my memory back," says Blake. "I hope so too bucko, goodnight, and sweet dreams," says Cuttlefish with his back turned.

Blake sighed and turned facing away from Cuttlefish and slowly drifted to sleep.

**AFTERTHOUGHTS: Being this is the start of the first story arc. I wanted it to start with events well before Splatoon 1 and 2. Back when Capt'n Cuttlefish and Octavio were friends and before the great turf war. You'll see why *NO SPOILERS* just read.**


	3. Arc 1 Chapter 2

**Arc 1 Chapter 2 **

**NOTE: I didn't put a lot of effort into this chapter so don't expect too much. I went back and made some repairs and fixed grammar errors. Don't worry things are slow right now but they will pick up as the story arc progresses.**

"Hey...Hey, wake up," a voice was saying. "mmm," the figure responded to the voice.

"Hey...come on, wake up," the voice repeated. "just a little longer," the figure argued.

The figure soon was soon feeling a poking on its forehead and slowly opened its eyes. As he focused to gain his eyesight, he saw a figure waving at him repeatedly.

"Hey get up, we got a long day ahead of us bucko," the voice said.

Blake groggily raises up and turns to Cuttlefish.

"come on, " says Cuttlefish impatiently.

"Alright, just give me a moment," says Blake rubbing his eyes.

Cuttlefish then notices something on the floor under Blake's hammock. It looks like some sort of card. Cuttlefish picks it up and examines it. He is unable to read it but sees a picture on it. It was a picture of Blake.

"Hey, Bucko! what is this," asks Cuttlefish. Blake looks at the card and a bewildered look appears on Blake's face. "Wait...this... looks like me. The card says Blake Carter," says Blake. He studies the card slowly.

The card was giving info on height, weight, blood type and other descriptions on him. "Is that my name?" questions Blake.

"It has to be bucko, that's your face on it. Where did it come from?" asks Cuttlefish.

"maybe it fell out of one of my pockets when I was moving around in my sleep. That's really convenient," says Blake.

"So, your name is Blake. At least you know your name, bucko...I mean Blake." says Cuttlefish rubbing the back of his head. Cuttlefish leaves the room and into the kitchen.

A moment passes and Blake walks into the doorway. "so, what's for breakfast," Blake asks.

"Krabby cakes," answers Cuttlefish.

"Oh, ok...I guess," says Blake.

Cuttlefish and Blake get done eating and walk out the door. Blake is eager to see what the day will bring being all that had transpired yesterday.

* * *

Cuttlefish and Blake wait outside the cabin. Blake is looking around and then turns back to Cuttlefish leaning on the wall of the cabin.

"so, what are we doing today?" asked Blake.

"I'm waiting for Octavio to get here," responds Cuttlefish. Minutes pass and Octavio walks up the path towards the cabin. Octavio waves and Cuttlefish waves back.

"Good to see you finally made it, Octavio, " says Cuttlefish.

"well, I've been trying to fix that device I've been building for the contest, but I'm not making any headway," explains Cuttlefish.

"you've been messing with that thing for a while now, you'll get it eventually," said Cuttlefish reassuring him.

"I hope so, it won't be long until the contest gets here," replies Octavio.

Octavio sighs and then turns to Blake. "hey, Blake...so, have you...remembered anything," asked Octavio.

"no, but Cuttlefish did find this card laying under my hammock this morning, the card has a picture of me on it and says my name is Blake, " said Blake handing the card to Octavio.

"come on you two, let's get a move on, we'll talk about it on our way there," says Cuttlefish as they leave the cabin and down the path.

"So, your name is Blake," asks Octavio as the three of them were walking down the path.

Octavio was studying the card and looked on the back of it. "what's this symbol and lettering on the back, I can't read this language, "asked Octavio.

Blake takes the card and looks. It was some weird logo with the word Namabo on the bottom of it. "Namabo?" says Blake.

"what's that?" Octavio asks.

"I'm not sure," responds Blake.

"well let's not worry about it. Me and Octavio want to show the cool stuff we found over the years," says Cuttlefish.

The three of them reach a large wooden building and walk inside. As the three of them walk inside Blake looks in amazement. All kinds of old human artifacts were littering the inside of the building. "What is all this stuff?" asks Blake.

"It's, by what we can tell old human technology. You don't know what any of it is?" asks Octavio surprised.

"No, I don't," says Blake. Blake looks and examines some of the items. He picks up an old gramophone and studies it.

"I have two of those at my place, but what I could figure out is they play music on these disc-shaped black things," Octavio explains picking up a record. "I've been fascinated by human music for a while now. I came across these black discs and also some white square-shaped things with some sort of tape inside them," says Octavio. "I also came across pictures and posters of human music culture. though some of the images are faded, humans dressed funny back then'" says Octavio. The three look through all the human relics and finally leave.

They walk towards Octavio's place. Blake studies' Octavio's home, it appeared to look like a traditional Japanese style house with sliding doors.

The three of them walk in. "well this my place, what do you think," Octavio asks Blake.

"It's nice," says Blake. Blake spots some items on the other side of the large room.

"what are those things?" Blakes asks Octavio.

"Ahh, those are human relics I found, like I said, I've been fascinated by human music culture," says Octavio. The items appeared to be musical instruments and devices hooked up together.

"I'm trying to figure out how to connect this stuff up so I can play music at our folk singing contest we have in the valley," says Octavio. "Me and Cuttlefish were going play in it, If I can ever get this stuff to work," says a frustrated Octavio.

"Octavio, you know I'm not interested in entering that contest," says Cuttlefish.

"Oh, c'mon Cuttlefish I thought we would start music duo for the village," says Octavio.

"I'm not in that music stuff Octavio," says Cuttlefish.

"Hmm, maybe I can tinker with it Octavio and get it working," says Blake.

"you could?" ask Octavio.

"Well...no promises," says Blake.

* * *

It was getting late and Octavio and Cuttlefish left Octavio's place a couple of hours ago with Blake staying back. The two of them headed down to the village and pondered how they could introduce Blake to everyone without pandemonium breaking out.

As the two returned to Octavio's they slid the door open and saw Blake working on the musical devices. "Almost done...I think," says Blake. "There...I think I got," says Blake again.

Blake turns on a button connected to a large cable hooked up to a large metal box connecting to the rest of the instruments. Colorful prop lights come on and music comes on though it was breaking up a little bit. "It still needs work," says Blake.

Octavio is flabbergasted and rushes over to Blake excitedly shaking his hand rapidly. "Blake...this is...Awesome!" says Octavio in joy. "How did you do this?" asked Octavio.

"I just ahh...had to try over and over again messing with it and... I eventually figured it out," exclaimed Blake while rubbing the back of his head.

"way to go bucko!" said Cuttlefish smacking Blake's back. Blake just lightly chuckled with a red face.

"Yeah! Now that you got it working, me and Cuttlefish can play at the folk singing contest," says Octavio.

"uhh...Octavio, I done told ya that I'm not into that musical stuff," replies Cuttlefish.

"aaawww... come on Cuttlefish," says Octavio hopeful.

"Sorry bud but...I'll cheer you on at the contest'" says Cuttlefish.

"Alright then'" says Octavio disappointed.

"well it could still use some work, Octavio," says Blake.

"oh, okay then," says Octavio.

"don't worry I'll keep working on it though," said Blake assuring him.

"you will? awesome! but don't get in a big hurry though. the contest won't be here for another week," says Octavio.

"don't worry I'll get it fixed before then," replies Blake.

* * *

A week passes with the three of them hanging out discretely still thinking how to introduce Blake to the village. Blake had been working on Octavio's device for the contest all week at the wooden building holding all the ancient human relics. While hanging out, Blake pulled Cuttlefish away from Octavio and informed about being done with Octavio's musical contraption and asked him to find a way to surprise Octavio and keep him busy until this evening.

Octavio turns to Blake and Cuttlefish not hearing their conversation raising an eyebrow.

After a moment Cuttlefish walks back over to Octavio.

"what was that all about?" asked Octavio.

"oh, nothing, say let's go down Mimi's clothes store and see if they got any new clothes on sale," insisted Cuttlefish.

'O...kay?" says a baffled Octavio.

Cuttlefish places his arm around Octavio and they head off to the village while Blake heads back to wooden building to bring Octavio's contraption back to his house.

That evening...

At Octavio's place Cuttlefish guides Octavio to his home with a blindfold covering his eyes. "Cuttlefish...what's this about? I got to practice for the contest and you and Blake have kept telling me that my device is still being worked on. The contest is tonight!" says a distressed and frustrated Octavio.

"Just wait a minute Octavio," says Cuttlefish. The two of them enter inside Octavio's home and stop in the large room. "ok cuttlefish, this better be good," says Octavio with the blindfold still on. Cuttlefish takes the blindfold off Octavio. In front of Octavio sits the cluster of instruments and devices attached together to form a DJ's turntable and booth.

"Ta-Da!," yells Blake with his arms out. Octavio's eyes almost pop out of his head.

"This...This...IS AWESOME! I don't know what to say! THANKS!'" shouts Octavio.

"I looked through those old pop culture magazines that you collected and felt like building this for you Octavio...or should I say DJ Octavio," says Blake.

"DJ? what's a DJ?" asked Octavio.

"by what I read and seen, a DJ creates musical beats and rhythm with music. I also found some records I listened to test the DJ booth that you might like," says Blake.

Octavio's eyes were glittering as he looked at the crafted DJ booth. It had the 2 gramophones on top with an equalizer centered on top of large speakers on the bottom. behind were prop lights and a projector screen in the center. "Blake this is unbelievable! I don't know how I could repay you," says an anxious Octavio.

"Just have fun and win the contest Octavio, you and Cuttlefish have done enough being my friends," says Blake. a tear rolls down Octavio's eye and he wipes it off. He approaches Blake and hugs him.

"yeah, I know you can do it, Octavio," says Cuttlefish excited.

"you guys are the best, alright, I won't lose," says Octavio with courage.

* * *

That night as the Folk singing contest was going on, Cuttlefish and Blake waited nearby, out of sight for Octavio to show up.

"where is he?" asked a worried Cuttlefish.

"I'm not sure, maybe he's doing some last-minute practice, " says an assuring Blake.

"I hope so," says cuttlefish before sighing.

"Cuttlefish this cloak you let me borrow is kinda rough and a little dirty," says Blake.

"it's all I had in order to hide your identity bucko, I'm sorry," exclaims Cuttlefish.

After a moment a figure slowly approached them pulling a cart with something on it. "hey there's Octavio," shouts Blake. They run up to Octavio.

"Octavio where have you been, you're going to be up shortly," says a stressed Cuttlefish.

"well if I would've had help loading this thing I would've done been here, " says Octavio angrily.

"oh, uh sorry...we didn't think about that," says an embarrassed Cuttlefish rubbing the back of his head.

Octavio grumbles and he, Cuttlefish and Blake unload the DJ booth. They carry it to the stage behind the curtains before the curtains raise and Octavio's performance starts.

"I'm nervous, Cuttlefish," says Octavio.

"It's ok, do your best, " says a reassuring Cuttlefish. putting his thumbs up.

"ok," says Octavio. Octavio then makes his way behind the DJ booth Blake made.

* * *

Octavio nervously looks at the crowd but sucks in some courage. He closes his eyes and gives a deep breath, then opens them.

"Hey Everyone! This is DJ Octavio in da house!" yells Octavio. "Ok Squids and Octopuses! You ready for me to lay down these spicy wasabi beats!." yells Octavio.

The crowd turns silent and confused unsure how to respond. Octavio then steps on a button behind the DJ booth and the booth comes alive with lights moving up and down and music blaring. The crowd shortly cheers and screams, they soon are jumping up in the air. They've never seen a performance like this and were awestruck by the performance in front of them.

Cuttlefish is clapping as hard as he can and shouting for his friend's spectacular performance at the corner of the stage. Blake staying out of sight at the bottom of the stage behind Cuttlefish smiling at Octavio.

Octavio's performance lasted for almost an hour before he stood up and bowed to the overjoyed crowd. "Thank you! you've been a great audience! but this couldn't have been done without my friends," said Octavio. Octavio then directs towards Cuttlefish who walks towards the center of the stage and gives a bow to the crowd.

"And a special thanks to someone who made this all possible, give it up for Blake," says Octavio and signals for Blake to come on the stage.

"Wait...What!," says a shocked Blake.

"C'mon Bucko," as he directed Blake to come on the stage. Cuttlefish then runs up to Blake pulling him up the stage.

"But...Cuttlefish I...," says Blake unfinished.

"Me and Octavio discussed this and this would be the best window of opportunity for everyone to see you after that performance," says an assuring Cuttlefish.

Blake nervously walks towards the center of the stage in front of the crowd. "Hey...everyone...my-my...n-name is ...B-B-Blake. says a scared Blake. Blake then turns and looks at his friends.

Cuttlefish signals him to continue. Blake turns back around towards the anxious crowd as he gulps and continues.

"I'm g-g-glad you enjoyed the performance, " says Blake as the crowd cheered. "But I have a secret...I'm...I'm...a...human, "says Blake. Blake gets some confused looks from the crowd while some were talking among themselves.

"What? don't be ridiculous, humans have been extinct for thousands of years," says a male octoling in the crowd. "yeah," replies a female inkling in the crowd. Some more people were about to respond, but Blake pulls the hood of the cloak off revealing his face and hair. The crowd gasps in shock. "What the!", says a male inkling. "what is that thing!" shouts a female octoling.

The crowd had mixed emotions of curiosity and slight fear at the appearance of Blake. "Wait! He's harmless and friendly. He helped Octavio do this performance you all enjoyed. Me and Octavio found him in this metal pod on the beach. Sadly he lost his memory and has had to stay with me all this time so don't be scared and treat him with dignity!" commanded Cuttlefish. The crowd calms down and everyone looks at each other and then back towards the stage.

Moments pass as the inklings and octarians were unsure how to make of a human standing among them. Many inklings and octarians were throwing questions about Blake and human life. unfortunately, Blake couldn't remember anything about his past life before he was found in the metal pod. even some of the females were flirting with Blake and the males were just eager to hang out with him.

It was getting late and finally, Cuttlefish commanded everyone to leave and give Blake a break. Octavio, Cuttlefish, and Blake then leave and head back towards their homes worn out from the day and the monotony from Blake's discovery.

"Hey Octavio how'd you learn to talk like that?" asked Blake as they were walking.

"I got it from some pop culture magazines I found "replies Octavio.

"Well I'm glad you did great Octavio and that everyone liked Blake," says Cuttlefish.

The three of them arrived at Cuttlefish's cabin and Octavio soon walked back home and waved goodbye to Cuttlefish and Blake. As Blake and Cuttlefish got in their hammock, mixed thoughts were running through Blake's mind.

"hey, Cuttlefish," asked Blake.

"Yeah, Bucko, " replies Cuttlefish facing him.

"I admit that I wasn't sure what to do, I wish you and Octavio would have discussed this with me before ya'll had to force me in front of everyone," says an aggravated Blake.

"Hey, things went smooth and that was the best time, everyone liked you and were glad to meet you," exclaims Cuttlefish.

"Yeah, I guess you're right...but still, " says Blake still aggravated.

"Ok, just go to sleep, it's been a long day, "says Cuttlefish as he rolled over.

Blake just mumbled under his breath and rolled over facing away from Cuttlefish. Blake was somewhat uneasy but felt relief at the same time about his revealing to the inklings and octarians. Blake slowly closed his eyes and went to sleep.

**AFTERTHOUGHTS: Like I said not a lot of effort. Blake found out what his name was. We know how Octavio became a DJ and obsessed with pop culture, Though now it looks like the inklings and octolings know Blake exists and now the paradigm of their society may change. We will** **see. Who knows what else is in store.**


	4. Arc 1 Chapter 3

**Arc 1 Chapter 3 Strange Encounters**

**NOTE:**** This chapter is kinda short and deals with Blake meeting new characters, one of them, that could possibly do with his past. Still trying to get the hang of writing these chapters neatly and informatively as possible, but slowly improving. Enjoy the chapter.**

"Blake!... Blake!" a voice could be heard. "Blake where are you!" the voice shouted again.

It was black, but soon a vague image could be made out. There was a man running down a metal corridor frantically looking for someone as he was shouting.

"Blake!... Blake!" the man shouted. "Son, where are you!" The man had yelled turning and looking around down the metal corridor.

Then the man stops and looks down with distress. "My son, where could he be?" the man says sadly.

Shortly after another voice could be heard, coming down the corridor of the direction the man had ran from.

"There he is! Get him!" the other voice says commanding.

The man turns towards the direction of the voice and runs away. Echoes of multiple footsteps could be heard coming. The image soon starts fading to black.

* * *

"Blake?... Blake?" a different voice was saying.

"BLAKE!" it yelled again.

"AAAHHH!" screamed Blake. rising out of the hammock and panting.

"Blake what's the matter!?" Cuttlefish asked hastily.

Breathing hard, Blake turned towards Cuttlefish. "I don't know (panting). There was a man running and yelling my name (sighing). He said I was...his son" said Blake trying to calm down.

"Your father perhaps bucko," asks Cuttlefish.

"I don't know Cuttlefish...uuhh, my head hurts," Blake said holding his head.

It had been months since Blake got pulled out of the cryostasis pod and woke up to this new world. Blake had been having these dreams every so often, but they had only been vague voices, unlike the vague image he had seen just now. Blake was a little shook up and couldn't make heads or tails of what it meant and who and why that man was calling his name, but Blake will soon find out that he is not the only one who's taken a long slumber to wake up in this new world either.

Blake got up out of his hammock, stretched and walked out ready for what the day would bring him.

"So what are we doing today?" asked Blake.

"I thought we might head down to the village, their's someone I want you to meet," said Cuttlefish.

"Ohh...that would be cool, I guess," said Blake.

"It's ok bucko, he's a friend;" says Cuttlefish assuring Blake.

"ok, then Cuttlefish," said Blake

Blake and Cuttlefish finished their breakfast and made their way out the door. They headed down to the village. Blake, overtime soon became a part of the community and adapting to the culture of the new world he was introduced to.

As they were walking, Cuttlefish turned to Blake. "This person would be really excited to meet you," said Cuttlefish

"he owns a shop up here, he digs up old human artifacts and studies them, seeing you a living breathing human maybe a dream come true for him, but don't worry he's a good guy or should a say crab," said Cuttlefish.

"crab?" said a confused Blake.

"Yeah, as I said before, inklings and octarians aren't the only ones that walked out of the ocean on to land. He's a horseshoe crab and he moved here a couple of years and has been a big help for the village, fixing things and improving our way of life with the ancient technology he has been digging up," says Cuttlefish.

"Wow, he sounds like a good guy, I can't wait to meet him," says Blake.

Blake and Cuttlefish arrive at the shop. It wasn't very big and had piles of crates and junk in front of it. Blake and Cuttlefish make their way to the door and walk inside.

* * *

As Blake and Cuttlefish walked inside they looked around seeing all kinds of human relics lining the walls of the shop. Blake and Cuttlefish make their way to counter, but no one was present. "Hello... is anyone in here?!" shouted Cuttlefish

Just then, the sound of junk falling emitted from a room behind the counter. "dang it! Be there in a minute!" yelled a voice from the room as Cuttlefish and Blake waited.

Soon a figure walked out of the room brushing himself off. He looked humanoid in appearance, but it had what looked like a horseshoe crab shell on its head. It was wearing a shirt with a scarf around the collar. It was also wearing pants with black boots.

"Hey! Cuttlefish, want brings you here and...who is that?" asked the figure to Cuttlefish before he pointed to Blae with a confused look.

"This is Blake, the human I was talking about," answered Cuttlefish then turned towards Blake.

"Blake, this is Ammoses Shellendorf, he digs up old human artifacts and uses it to improve our society, he's always been fascinated with human history and has been a great help for the village," said Cuttlefish introducing him to Ammoses.

"(gasp) A live human walking among us...this is so EXCITING!" yelled Ammoses as rushed toward Blake studying him.

Blake felt a little uncomfortable with Ammoses grabbing his arms and looking down his mouth studying his biology. Ammoses was overly excited that a member of an extinct race was in his store and could not pass the opportunity to learn about him.

When Ammoses stopped examining Blake he was quick to ask him about human history, technology and how he survived all these years.

"Woah...slow down Ammoses, the lad lost his memory in that metal contraption I found him in on the beach. So I doubt he'll be able to answer any of those questions," explained Cuttlefish.

"oh...I'm sorry, it must be hard on you to not remember anything about your past or your own culture," said Ammoses apologizing.

"It's...ok," says Blake putting his head down. "I assumed I was the last human in existence, I'm sure you haven't come across any other metal pods like the one you found me in," asked Blake sadly.

"Well...we did come across a metal pod, but it was much smaller than the one you were in," said Ammoses.

"smaller?" said blake with confusion, picking his head back up.

"yes but... what was inside wasn't a human," responded Ammoses.

"what was in it?" asked Blake curiously.

"It said it was a "cat"," said Ammoses.

"a cat? wait...it said?...cats don't talk!" said a bewildered Blake.

"well it didn't talk with its mouth, it spoke through our minds, I was shocked myself," exclaimed Ammoses.

Just then a cat came out of the room that Ammoses was in. It jumped on the counter and stared at Blake. The cat was white with strange markings on it. The marks made the cat look like he was wearing black trousers with suspenders. He also on mark under his neck that looked like a black bow tie but the strangest thing that stood out about the cat was its arrow-shaped tail. Then it stood up on its hind legs and spoke. "Nice to meet you, Blake," the cat said.

* * *

The group stared at the cat as the air seemed to be filled with anticipation. Blake just froze in shock not believing that the cat had spoke to him, but not only that, it talked to him through his mind like Ammoses said it would.

Blake finally unfroze and screamed "WAAAHHH!" as Blake fell back.

"Woah bucko, you OK?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Sorry for scaring you," said the cat looking down at him.

"What tha...y...y...you can...talk!" shouted Blake in surprise.

"like I said he can talk to you by thought, and by the way his name is Judd, I named him since he didn't have one, " said Ammoses.

"But how is that possible?, cats are not supposed to talk or talk by thought!" said a bewildered Blake.

"I'm not sure, I can't remember anything before I was released out of that metal freezer," explained Judd.

"I guess we have a lot in common then, I'm sorry you can't remember anything either," said Blake getting up.

Blake walked up to Judd and picked him up, petting him as he purred happily. "ah...that feels good," said Judd as he was getting petted.

"I feel like I've seen you before, but I'm not sure why," said Blake to Judd.

"I felt the same way too, but I was unsure as well," said Judd.

After a moment Blake placed Judd back on the counter.

"Well bucko I hate to spoil the visit, but we gotta get going, you can come back and visit anytime you want," said Cuttlefish.

"ok, Cuttlefish, I'll see you and Blake later," said Ammoses as Blake and Cuttlefish headed out the door.

"It was nice meeting you, Blake, I hope you'll come back soon," said Judd waving at them.

Blake and Cuttlefish were out the door. Judd was stuck in thought as Ammoses noticed. "what's the matter, Judd," asked Ammoses.

It's just, I've seen Blake somewhere before but I can't put my paw on it," exclaimed Judd. Then Judd's stomach growled. "It sounds like it's time for lunch," replied Ammoses.

"maybe some salmon will get my mind off of it," said Judd heading back into the room.

* * *

Blake and Cuttlefish were out of the shop. Cuttlefish turned to Blake and said "so, what did you think about Ammoses?" asked Cuttlefish.

"I thought he was a little...strange, but he was ok, I guess, I hated I couldn't answer his questions, it's just hard that I can't remember anything before I woke up," replied Blake.

"I'm sure it is Bucko, not being able to remember anything," responded Cuttlefish.

"yeah...but when and how did ya'll find that cat, I mean Judd. I still can't get over him talking to me, this world is getting crazier and crazier, "asked Blake.

"Ammoses said that he and a few inklings that were at one of his archeological sites came across a small metal pod like you were inside it, a few months ago, " said Cuttlefish. "They took the pod to Ammoses's shop and released him from the pod unsure how to make him out," said Cuttlefish again.

"wow...that's something, I hated that he's like me, can't remember anything from before," replied Blake.

"yeah...Ammoses showed me and I was just as perplexed as you were bucko," said Cuttlefish. " I didn't know what he was or why and how he got there, but Ammoses was definitely intrigued by him and decided to let Judd stay with him in the shop," said Cuttlefish.

"hmmm... I feel I've seen Judd before, but I don't know why?" said Blake.

"maybe you have since both you were found in those pods," replied Cuttlefish.

"I would think I'd remember a telepathic talking cat," said Blake as he sighed.

The two continued to walk in the village as they approached what appeared to be a clothes store. "well here we are, Mimi's wares, it's the local clothes store, I thought maybe you can get some new threads, bucko. you've been wearing the same thing since I found you," said Cuttlefish.

Blake looked down and pulled on his shirt, then looked back at Cuttlefish. "I've gotta go real quick, bucko. I'll be back, go look around," said Cuttlefish," Cuttlefish then gives Blake some money for clothes.

As Cuttlefish left, Blake headed into the store. He looked around and picked out some clothes that he liked. He soon walked over to the counter and was greeted by an orange-tentacled female Inkling, she was one of the inklings that approached Blake at the contest to meet him. She had gotten a small crush on him and was too timid to tell him.

"Oh...hey, Blake. You found what you like," asked the female inkling.

"yeah, I...think so," replied Blake.

"that's good, umm...by the way...my...my...my name is M...M...Mimi, I...I met you at the contest, "said Mimi shyly trying to hide her blush.

"it's nice to meet you, Mimi...I uh, thought it would probably be time for me to get some new clothes. I think I got what I wanted," said Blake.

he placed the clothes on the counter, they were comprised of a white shirt, brown shorts, and sandals. Mimi rang up the clothes on an old-timey cash register with a lever on the side of it. Blake then gave some money and thanked Mimi.

"Umm...anytime B...B...Blake," said Mimi shyly again.

As Blake was walking out the door. Mimi called out.

"Hey, Blake," said Mimi

"yeah," asked Blake as he turned towards Mimi.

Um...you think we could hang out sometime?" asked Mimi as she rubbed her arm with a red face.

"sure, Mimi, "replied Blake.

Blake walked out of the store to be met with Cuttlefish, "well did you buy anything?" asked Cuttlefish.

"yeah, but I hated that I had to use your money," said Blake.

"it's no problem, bucko, anything for a friend, I'm just glad you found some new clothes," said Cuttlefish.

"Thanks, Cuttlefish, " said Blake.

"hey, you know Mimi likes you," said a smirking Cuttlefish.

"uh...yeah I kinda could tell by how she was acting," said Blake with a blush rubbing the back of his head.

"well, I'm getting hungry bucko, let's head back to the cabin," said Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish and Blake soon leave the village and head back to Cuttlefish's cabin.

* * *

The day had been exciting and interesting for the two. Blake had met Ammoses, Cuttlefish's friend and archeologist of human artifacts and history who was highly fascinated by Blake. Blake felt awkward about his encounter with the horseshoe crab and was intrigued by his interest in human culture.

He met Judd the telepathic cat who like him was frozen in time in a pod and had no memory of his past and how he got in that thing and why. Though Blake felt as he knew or met the talking cat somewhere before and that them being in those cryo pods may not be a coincidence.

Blake bought new clothes and met his first inkling crush who was afraid to tell him how she felt about him. Cuttlefish hinted and teased Blake about it, but Blake could see through the orange-headed inkling's behavior.

Blake and Cuttlefish head back to the cabin for the day. Cuttlefish and Blake eat dinner, though Blake is getting burned out on the Krabby cakes, hoping they'll eat something else. The two of them soon retire for bed from all the excitement from today, but many things were running through his mind about the dreams he had been having and meeting Judd. Blake just shrugged it off and fell asleep.

I wonder what else was in store for Blake and what other encounters and events will transpire in the future. Who knows. We shall see.

**AFTERTHOUGHTS: Well like the name of the chapter, Blake meets three new main characters that will play important and supporting roles later in the Arc.**


	5. Arc 1 Chapter 4

**Arc 1 Chapter 4 Rising Troubles**

**NOTE: Have been busy lately. I haven't had time to go back over the chapters to check on grammar and narration mistakes. Another short chapter, I was running out of ideas and didn't put a whole lot of effort into this chapter so bear with me the Arc will slowly get better.**

As the weeks progressed and the days flew by, Blake seemed like, that he accepted his new life more and more. Blake got a job at the market across from Mimi's clothes store always getting a wave from his inkling crush. Who is still trying to find the courage to tell him how she feels.

Cuttlefish was still running errands for his friend Ammoses, while every now and then being bombarded by questions about Blake. Judd sometimes asks questions about Blake too, while other times just eating or napping.

Octavio was doing gigs with his DJ skills all over the valley. Though Octavio at times was getting exhausted from it and was losing time to hang out with Cuttlefish and Blake.

Octavio had been appointed to be the leader and chancellor for the octarians, ensuring good relations between the races and that the octarian society had sufficient crops and supplies and that they were treated fairly by the inklings.

As time went by people started to notice that the tide was coming closer towards the land and that the sea levels were slowly rising up. This was eventually brought up to the inkling council and Octavio himself.

When Octavio found time from the DJ business and governing the octarians he decided that he wanted to spend what time he had with Cuttlefish and Blake. Let's hope that Octavio's new role doesn't cloud his judgment and relationship between the races or Cuttlefish.

* * *

It was the weekend and Blake and Cuttlefish were looking forward to some time off. The two of them ate breakfast and got ready to head out the door.

As the two of them walk out they soon see an approaching Octavio.

"Hey, Octavio," says Cuttlefish.

"How's the DJ business been doing?" asked Blake.

"Great you guys, I've been booked for months now and it's getting exhausting," says Octavio.

"your complaining?" asked Cuttlefish.

"huh, no it's just I like to have some time to myself for a good while and hang out with my friends," exclaims Octavio. "Hey, you guys want to see the modifications I've done to the DJ booth," asked Octavio.

"Sure," both Cuttlefish and Blake responded. The three soon left the cabin and headed towards Octavio's.

As they walked the path Octavio was talking about his DJ business as well as the appointment of octarian chancellor.

"Wow, I'm proud of you Octavio, I'm sure all the octarians chose you for a reason, " complemented Cuttlefish.

"that's great Octavio, I'm proud too," exclaimed Blake.

"Thanks, you guys, but it's a lot on my plate, I just wish I made more time to spend with you guys, I don't want this to put a constraint on our friendship," said a concerned Octavio.

"I'm sure it won't Octavio, I understand that you're busy with that stuff and I trust that things will work out, we've been friends since we were hatchlings," said a reassuring Cuttlefish.

"You're always the one to ignore the negatives, but thanks, I hope we can stay friends as well as our races, " said Octavio. "That reminds me, I have some concerns I need to talk to you about, but It can wait for now," said Octavio.

The three of them finally reach Octavio's and walk inside.

At Octavio's, Cuttlefish and Blake were examining the newly designed DJ booth. It had a Japanese architecture to it with what looked like a torii behind the turntable with stage lights attached to the top of them.

"So what do you guys think?" asked Octavio.

"Wow, I'm impressed Octavio," said Blake.

"It looks awesome, " said Cuttlefish.

"I also got an outfit to match it, wait here for a moment," said Octavio.

Octavio left and came back wearing the new DJ outfit. It made him look like a samurai with helmet and armor.

"So...?" asked Octavio.

"It's different," says Blake.

"looking fresh," complimented Cuttlefish.

"Thanks, you guys, I've been working on this thing for a month now," said Octavio rubbing the back of his head and red-faced. "Hey, I also wanted to bring you here so we could spend some time together, We haven't hung out for a while," said Octavio.

"sounds good Octavio, but what did you wanna do?, asked Cuttlefish.

"how about we eat first," suggested Octavio.

"Sounds good," said Blake.

Octavio set up a Japanese style dinner while all three of them sat on the floor eating. Octavio held up a bamboo cup of tea and said: "to friendship, let it not falter,". Blake and Cuttlefish held up their cups to toast. The three of them continued to eat and then headed off to spend time together before Octavio's next show.

* * *

It has been nearly a year since Blake was pulled out of the cryostasis pod. Blake was wearing traditional clothes that he had gotten, he was sitting in front of the Cuttlefish's cabin. Blake had much running through his mind while he was spacing out not paying attention to a figure waving getting his attention.

"Hey! you ok bucko, "asked Cuttlefish.

"huh...yeah I'm fine," Blake says depressingly.

"you don't sound like, it's...about does dreams isn't it," replied Cuttlefish.

Blake remained silent as he got up. "I just can't remember anything before ya'll found me. I feel like my memories are slowly coming back to me, but my head hurts to think about it," said Blake as he sighed.

"Things will come back to you in time bucko," said Cuttlefish.

"I hope so," replied Blake.

Blake and Cuttlefish started to walk up the path towards the village when they were stopped by a figure, it was Octavio.

"Octavio, how's it going," said Cuttlefish as he waved.

"Cuttlefish, I need to talk to about something...alone," said Octavio as pulled Cuttlefish aside.

Blake was baffled and wondered what was going on. The two of them started to walk off.

"Hey bucko, I'll catch up with you later," says Cuttlefish walking away with Octavio.

Oh...ok then, see you later Cuttlefish," said Blake as he made his way towards the village.

Blake reached the village wondering why Cuttlefish and Octavio had to leave somewhere without him.

Blake looked around noticing the inklings and octarians weren't hanging around each other like they used to. Blake noticed also, that there was not as much produce at the market. The prices were also going up.

"I wonder why everything is costing higher lately," wondered Blake.

As Blake had left the market place, a figure had walked behind him," he...he...hey Blake," said the figure. Blake turned around and saw a female orange-tentacled inkling in a kimono look at him with a blush.

"Hi, Mimi," says Blake.

"What have you been up to lately," says Mimi shyly.

"umm...nothing really," responded says, Blake, looking down scratching the back of his head.

"I...I...I thought we could hang out for a while," says a nervous Mimi.

"Sure, since Cuttlefish had to leave with Octavio for some reason," replied Blake.

Mimi and Blake soon left the market with Mimi towing Blake behind her.

* * *

The two of them headed down to a Japanese style garden in the center of the village.

The two of them walked around enjoying the peaceful scenery and looking at the little reflecting pools.

Both of them decided to sit down and just enjoy the serenity of the garden.

"wow, this place is beautiful," complimented Blake.

"it's my favorite place in the whole village, I always like coming here when I'm not running my store," said Mimi calmly.

Mimi was getting more relaxed as she was hanging Blake. She felt that this may be the best time to let Blake know how she felt about him, hoping they could get to know each other better.

"um...Blake...I wanted...to tell you something," said Mimi with her head turned away hiding her anxiety.

"Yeah, Mimi?" asked Blake

It's just...I...wanted to...get to know you better," said a Mimi with a blush.

Mimi then noticed that her hand was on top of his and jerked with a red face and turned away from Blake. Blake also had the same reaction and blushed, rubbing his arm.

"oh...uhhhh...sure, Mimi...about," replied Blake rubbing his arm and head turned, realizing what she was truly wanted to ask him.

I...uh...just...How do I say this," said Mimi stuttering with nervousness.

"Mimi you don't have to be shy, just talk to me like anyone else," said a comforting Blake.

"It's just...(Sigh), I wanna get this off my chest... , Blake I... like you," Mimi muttered.

"what was that Mimi?" asked Blake.

"I like you!" Mimi shouted jumping off the bench then covering her mouth with a beet-red face.

Blake didn't know what to think or what to say and remained silent from the surprising situation. For a moment had conflicting thoughts running through his mind until he spoke up.

"Mimi,I...like you too, but as a friend, I'm sorry," said Blake.

"huh?" replied a Mimi with a shocked look on her face.

"It's just...I don't think anyone would accept it...An inkling and human going out together, I don't want to put you in a predicament," replied Blake looking Mimi in the eyes.

"But...I...understand," said Mimi sadly with tears starting to form.

Mimi looked turned away wiping a tear from her eye. She walked away with her head down and ears folded. Blake couldn't help but feel bad as he watched Mimi walk out of the garden in a depressed state.

"I'm sorry Mimi," Blake muttered to himself.

After a moment he got up and left the garden and made his way back to Cuttlefish's, but not before heading back to the market to get some grub.

* * *

Later at Octavio's place, Octavio and Cuttlefish were discussing serious matters.

"I know we're friends Cuttlefish, but this is getting serious," said Octavio. he paused for a moment and turned back to Cuttlefish. "Cuttlefish, the seawaters are rising, and we're losing some of the lands around the valley," said Octavio worried.

"yes I've noticed Octavio," replied Cuttlefish.

"What are we to do? We will start losing farmland soon and food will start getting more and more scarce," says Octavio. "the inklings and octarians are squabbling amongst each other." says Octavio again.

"I'll see what I can do, the best thing to do is ensure our people that the waters will go back down," says Cuttlefish.

"Well, you know how vulnerable we are to water and that we can't swim Cuttlefish, I don't want to treat this lightly. I am representing my race after all," says Octavio.

"yes I know, but I don't want to create a panic neither Octavio, I don't want our races to be up each other throats," says Cuttlefish.

The two of them paused for a moment and were lost in thought, thinking of what to do with the situation.

"We Octavio I can just hope that waters will eventually recede back down and that things will calm down," said Cuttlefish after a moment.

"right, I hope so too. For now, I'll try to talk to my people and try to keep tensions down," responded Octavio.

Cuttlefish and Octavio get up and shake hands.

An hour later Cuttlefish returns to his cabin with Blake waiting on wondering what has been going on.

"Hey Cuttlefish, so what were you and Octavio talking about?' " asked Blake.

"It's just things, nothing worth talking about'" responds Cuttlefish.

"Alright then, well I bought some Krabby cakes for dinner," says Blake.

"I'm not hungry," says Cuttlefish as he slowly makes his way in the cabin.

"Huh?... He never passes up Krabby cakes, I wonder what he and Octavio were talking about?" says a worried Blake.

* * *

Cuttlefish and Blake made their way to bed. Cuttlefish hadn't said goodnight or anything before he laid down, which was worrisome.

Blake laid in his hammock what was bothering Cuttlefish. Blake was wondering if had anything to do with Octavio being chancellor for the octarians and if this was putting a bind on their friendship.

Blake for a moment dwelled and eventually feel asleep hoping that things would get better, but overtime the situation was slowly getting worse and worse as the waters were slowly rising on the shores of the valley.

The inklings and octarians were soon put in a dilemma that would change their society and maybe even peace among the races.

Food was getting shorter and shorter and the races were squabbling over the territory.

inklings accused the octarians of having more resources and vice versa.

Octavio and Cuttlefish can hopefully pacify the feuding amongst the races or maybe it would take a human to stop the bickering. The future of the valley was looking grim and friendships were being tested. We shall soon find out.

**AFTERTHOUGHTS: This chapter is short and brief. It is more less a prelude for troubles to come. Let's just hope everybody is prepared especially, Blake seeing that he couldn't accept Mimi's feelings and Cuttlefish and Octavio are hiding the fact that sea waters are slowly rising, putting everyone in danger as to not cause panic. **


	6. Arc 1 Chapter 5

**Arc 1 Chapter 5**

**NOTE: Things are starting to build up between the inklings and octarians as we could possibly see a prelude to the great turf war. Another short chapter ahead folks but things will slowly escalate. Let's see how Blake will handle this one.**

Nearly another year had passed and the friendship between Cuttleship and Octavio was straining.

Things between the inklings and octarians were getting worse as the seawaters were rising.

Blake and Cuttlefish were sitting on a ridge looking towards the ocean.

"Well have you ever asked that orange headed lass to go out with her," asked Cuttlefish.

"huh?... No, Cuttlefish, I don't think things would ever work out," answered Blake with a sigh. "I'm a human and she's an inkling, I'm sure no one would approve of it especially her family," says Blake rubbing his arm looking down.

"I'm sure things would work out Blake," replies Cuttlefish.

"It's not only that but how things have been going between the inklings and octarians, I wouldn't want to get in a relationship right now," says Blake.

"I hate it bucko, but the seawaters aren't showing any signs of going down," says Cuttlefish in distress.

"There's no land anywhere else Cuttlefish?" asks Blake.

"No bucko, and even if there were there would be no way of us getting to it. We're vulnerable to water and splat when we come in contact, plus we can't swim" exclaims Cuttlefish.

"oh, I wonder why," asks Blake.

"don't know," answers Cuttlefish.

"It's funny, you and Octavio and everyone else can transform into a squid or octopus, but can't touch water or swim. I thought squids and octopi came out of the ocean," says a bewildered Blake.

"Well like I've said before, hundreds of years ago our ancestors immerged out of the seas and walked on land, I don't know why, but that's what happened since then we can't return to the seas," explaining Cuttlefish.

"interesting, well that's too bad," says Blake. The two of them get up and leave and head back to the cabin.

* * *

They reach the cabin shortly. Blake starts to walk in and then turns towards Cuttlefish.

"bucko, I got to go talk to Octavio, I've been putting it off, stay here and I'll be back soon," says Cuttlefish as he starts to leave.

"alright Cuttlefish," says Blake.

Cuttlefish soon reaches Octavio's with a disapproving Octavio glaring at him.

"Hey...Octavio," says Cuttlefish meekly.

"don't hey Octavio me! you've been putting this off for too long Cuttlefish! this is serious, things are getting dire and all you've been doing is hanging around that human, I mean Blake," says an aggravated Octavio.

"you don't think I've noticed Octavio, I'm worried too. You've been on edge lately," says Cuttlefish.

"well the inklings are claiming some of our territories and nothing has been said, you need to do something about it Cuttlefish," says an angry Octavio.

"Hey! the octarians have been raising the prices of supplies at unfordable rates, none of the inklings can buy any of it," Cuttlefish shot back.

"I think its time we start marking our territories Cuttlefish or if there will be any left," says Octavio.

"Octavio that's ridiculous, their's no sense in doing that, it will just cause more strife," says a frustrated Cuttlefish.

"well if the inklings stay in their territory things wouldn't get this way," snaps Octavio.

"Well, the octarians can stay on their side then," Cuttlefish snapped back.

"Fine!" replied Octavio. Cuttlefish walked out of Octavio's looking back questioning if they were still friends anymore.

As time went by relations between the inklings and octarians were bitter, both races would not cooperate with each other. Cuttlefish and Octavio's relationship had finally turned cold as the two had seen each other as rivals. Feuds had broken out between the races and things weren't looking good. There was fear that war may break out if things kept escalating.

Blake was getting worried trying to mend the friendship between Cuttlefish and Octavio hoping the two of them can calm things down between there races but to no avail. The seawaters were getting closer and there was nothing Blake could do about it but pray that things get better. Unknown to Blake, Cuttlefish, and the inklings, Octavio was forming an army to take as much territory as the octarians could.

Octavio believed that things weren't getting any better and that the only way of survival of his race was to take the land for themselves. Octavio gathered up as much old human technology that can be utilized to ensure victory over the inklings. Secretly Octavio had been enhancing the combat effectiveness of his army and built large mechanical devices that he called "The great Octoweapons."

* * *

There was a dark room with little lighting as three figures occupied the room. A man in a black suit, a man in a white lab coat and a man tied to a chair.

"Sir the serum has been inserted in the life support systems of the cryostasis pods," says a man in a lab coat.

"Good," says a man in a suit.

"well doctor, now I know that I'm sure mankind will survive, you could have made things a lot easier," says the man in the suit towards another man tied to a chair.

"you don't know what you've done Irons, we don't know what the serum will do to those people," said the man tied to the chair.

"I don't want to hear anymore, bring them in!" shouted the man in the suit.

A door opened on the other side of the room and two men brought in an older woman and young girl.

"Dad! " the girl screamed who was struggling with her captor.

"James! what's going on!?" asked the woman frantically.

"Let them go!" yelled the man tied up.

"Oh, I'll let them go alright, in a holding cell along with you Dr. Carter, take them away!" yelled the man in the suit.

The man was untied and escorted along with the woman and girl out of sight. The image faded to black like the other ones.

* * *

Blake woke up from the dream and opened his eyes blinking them. He turned and got up out of the hammock. Blake gave a long sigh, "More of those dreams...could they be my memories, what do they mean?" said Blake.

Blake walked out and into the living room of the cabin.

"I wonder where's Cuttlefish?" Blake asked.

Blake walked outside and heard voices behind the cabin. It was Cuttlefish and a group of inklings. he was showing them fighting stances with bamboo shoots.

"Hey Cuttlefish, what's going on?" asked Blake. Cuttlefish turned around to face Blake.

"oh, just preparing the troops for battle bucko," answered Cuttlefish.

"battle?" said Blake with an eyebrow raised.

"yeah, we have to be prepared for anything, the octarians are taking more and more of our land, we've got to do something," commanded Cuttlefish.

"Have you tried talking to Octavio about it," asked Blake.

"There's no getting to Octavio...we're done talking," said Cuttlefish as he lowered his head.

"Cuttlefish I don't want to see you or Octavio go to war with each other," said Blake worried.

"We...have no choice bucko," says Cuttlefish.

"well I'll go talk with him," said Blake as he turned and ran away.

Cuttlefish had a distressed look on his face and just sighed and turned back to the group of inklings, continuing their training.

Blake arrived at Octavio's place and knocked on the door. No answer as Blake walked inside with Octavio nowhere to be found. "Octavio, Octavio where are you?" Blake shouted.

Just then he could hear noises coming from one of the rooms. He walked through another doorway to see Octavio tinking with some device on the table. "Octavio, what are you doing?" asked Blake.

"Oh...Blake, what are you doing here?" asked a surprised Octavio.

"I wanted to talk to you about...everything that's been going on the valley," said Blake. "what is that your working on? " asked Blake.

"It's...modifications for the DJ booth," answered Octavio as if he was hiding something. Blake could see past his expression raising an eyebrow.

"Blake, we're losing land from the rising seawaters. I'm obligated to do what I can for my people, I won't allow the inklings to take what land we have left," said Octavio in frustration. "I wanna show you something Blake, "said Octavio directing Blake to follow him.

Octavio and Blake went down a hatch. Inside was a dark hallway that lead to a giant chamber. Inside were many octarians on some sort of platforms as well as octolings in armor carrying what looked like squirt guns with some kind of liquid in them.

"Octavio, what's going on? what is all this? "asked Blake worried.

"This is the new octarian army," says Octavio.

Blake was speechless as he saw the octarians move around on the platforms and the octolings shooting their squirt guns at makeshift squid-shaped targets.

"Blake I also wanna show you this," directed Octavio. Octavio revealed large robotic looking things to Blake. They had different appearances and were huge.

"Wha...wha...What are these things?" asked Blake scared.

"These are the great Octoweapons," said Octavio. "we built them for the coming war," said Octavio.

"War!" yelled Blake. "But Octavio..." Blake said as he was cut off by Octavio.

"I know Blake, that you're uncomfortable about this, but I want you to be my second in command," said Octavio.

"What..." said blake flabbergasted.

Octavio looked at Blake with confidence hoping Blake would accept the offer.

"I... can't Octavio... I don't want to see war break out between the inklings and octarians," exclaims Blake.

"I know this hard for you and your still friends with Cuttlefish, but this is how it has to be," said Octavio.

Octavio places his hand on Blake's shoulder. Blake's head is down and then turns toward Octavio with conflicting feelings. "I'll let you think about it," says Octavio.

Drake leaves the large chamber with his head down in distress. seeing the races go to war with each other and between his two best friends was heartbreaking and Blake had no idea what to do.

* * *

Hours pass and Blake was depressingly walking down the path to Cuttlefish's. Blake walked towards the door of the cabin with his head down when a voice gets his attention.

"Hey...bucko, well I assume things didn't go over as you wanted," said cuttlefish.

"No, Cuttlefish... I just don't want to see you and Octavio fighting over the valley," said Blake in distress.

"I don't either, but we have no choice, we have to defend ourselves and our territory from the octarians," said Cuttlefish.

"you and Octavio can't work out a compromise or something," asked Blake.

"I'm...afraid not, there isn't enough land to share between us," said Cuttlefish.

"There just has to be another way," said Blake. Cuttlefish remained silent for a moment then looked at Blake.

"Hey bucko, how you like be on the squidbeak platoon," asked Cuttlefish.

"Squidbeak platoon?" asked Blake baffled.

"Yeah, its all the inklings I managed to gather up for the battle and they appointed me captain," said an excited Cuttlefish. "so, its Captain Cuttlefish to ya, so are willing to join my squidbeak platoon bucko," asked Cuttlefish anxiously.

"I...I...I'm not sure what to say," said an indecisive Blake.

"All c'mon bucko, I'll make you an agent...yeah, a squidbeak agent. All you'll do is spy for me, no getting into combat," said Cuttlefish.

"I'm not sure Cuttlefish, I mean...I'm not even an inkling," said Blake.

"I know and that's why I'm making you an agent since you can't produce ink or squid form like we can," says Cuttlefish.

"But I can still give you a bamboozler and a spare ink tank with ink already in it, just in case you were to get caught," said Cuttlefish handing him a Bamboozler.

"What is this thing, it looks like a bamboo cane," said a confused Blake.

"it shoots ink bucko, Ammoses built these, you just pull the trigger, then splat your enemies," explaining Cuttlefish.

"oh and also..." trailing off Cuttlefish. Pulling something out of his pocket what looked like a squid shaped piece of brass.

"What's this?" asked Blake.

A squid badge, your now officially a squidbeak agent," said Cuttlefish.

The crowd of inklings behind Cuttlefish cheered and held up their bamboozlers in the air.

"Cuttlefish I... don't know what to say," said Blake unsure about this.

"That's captain Cuttlefish bucko and I would be honored to have you on the squidbeak platoon. I think your codename should be...um...zero...yeah, zero, Agent Zero," said Cuttlefish proudly.

"Zero?" responded a baffled Blake.

"well zero because your a secret agent," said Cuttlefish.

"ok," Blake shrugging.

"then it's settled," Cuttlefish says slapping Blake's back almost dropping the squid badge.

* * *

As the day went by, the squidbeak platoon practiced with their bamboozlers shooting at makeshift octopus-shaped targets.

Blake was practicing with his bamboozler as well with conflicting emotions thinking about the offer that Octavio had given him.

After a while, after all the training, Blake approached Cuttlefish.

"Cuttlefish...I mean Captain, uh I need to talk to you about something," said Blake.

"yeah, what is it bucko," responded Cuttlefish.

"I need to tell you something when I was at Octavio's. He showed me the army of octarians that he was putting together. They also have machines and weapons they made and also these giant robotic things called great octoweapons. He also offered for me to be his second in command," said Blake.

Cuttlefish was unnerved by the revelations of the octarian army and its weapons. "Then, this what I was afraid of. I knew Octavio was building something with ancient human technology, but I wasn't sure what, this is very troubling. I guess I have no choice," said a distressed Cuttlefish. He turned and looked at Blake.

"Blake, I hate to ask, but I want you to spy on Octavio and his army," asks Cuttlefish sternly.

"Captain I don't..." responded Blake but was cut off by Cuttlefish.

"I know he's your friend too bucko but he and his army and these great octoweapons pose a great danger to us. take up his offer and spy on him for us, please bucko," said a pleading Cuttlefish.

"All...Alright Cuttlefish," said an uneasy Blake.

"I appreciate it agent, don't let me down," said a happy Cuttlefish.

Blake unsure what to do walked away putting up his bamboozler and laying up his hammock. he slowly fiddled with the brass squid badge and sighed. Thoughts were running through his head until he finally fell asleep.

Blake is placed in an uneasy situation being pinned by both his friends. War seemed inevitable and he was caught in the crossfire unsure what to do.

These thoughts ran through Blake's mind as he was sleeping. The world he was in was falling apart and does not remember the world he came from before he was found in that pod. The dreams he was having were getting more and more vivid. Blake was unsure what these images meant, but for one thing, he wanted to know more.

**AFTERTHOUGHTS: It seems like tensions between the inklings and octarians are getting worse and Blake is caught in the crossfire. Blake's visions foresee his family being captured by the director and being put in more danger let's hope things get better. Blake is recruited into the squidbeak platoon and is nominated as agent Zero. Not only the first agent of the squidbeak but the only human agent wow what a turn of events I wonder who this will work since he's not an inkling and has to spy on Octavio which is his friend too, what a predicament. stay tuned for what will be in store for the next chapters.**


	7. Arc 1 Chapter 6

**Arc 1 Chapter 6 Double Agent**

**NOTE: I went back and revised and corrected some of the grammar. I also added some more sentences to the chapter. Blake takes on his first mission as a squidbeak agent. Let's hope it's not his last. Seems things are boiling over between the octarians and inklings.**

Blake had woken up from a hard night's sleep with everything that has been transpiring. Rubbing his eyes and hopping up off the hammock, Blake was not eager to do the mission Cuttlefish assigned him too. Blake walked out of the bedroom still drowsy looking around the front room for Cuttlefish. "Cuttlefish?...where is he? "Blake asked himself. Blake then walked outside looking around but voices behind the cabin caught his attention. He went behind the cabin to see Cuttlefish giving a pep talk to the Squidbeak platoon.

"What are we gonna do!" yelled Cuttlefish holding up his bamboozler. "kick some octo-butt!" yelled the inklings back.

Blake then walked up behind Cuttlefish and tapped his shoulder. Cuttlefish then turned around. "huh?... Oh, hey bucko! said Cuttlefish happily to see Blake.

"uhh...hey, Captain," said Blake meekly.

"you remember the mission, I told you about?" asked Cuttlefish.

'yeah, Captain I...remember," said Blake uneasily rubbing his arm.

"Alrighty then, make your way to Octavio's without arousing suspicion and remember to give me all the details you can gather," said Cuttlefish.

"Ok Captain, I, will," said Blake as left for Octavio's.

As Blake was walking down the path to Octavio's place many thoughts were stewing in his head. He felt like a rope in a game of tug of war, he didn't want to help or align up with either side, but Cuttlefish making him an agent put a bind on him trying to quell the fighting. He was thinking that he may be able to talk some sense into Octavio if he took up Octavio's offer to be on his side.

It was minutes before he reached Octavio's. Blake gulped and was nervous about doing the mission Cuttlefish assigned him too.

"Well, here goes nothing, " says Blake anxiously.

Blake had finally reached Octavio's and knocked on the door. "Octavio? "said Blake as he waited for an answer. Blake finally opened the sliding doors and walked in.

He walked around until he came across Octavio having a briefing with some armored octolings carrying what looked like squirt guns.

They just got done going over battle plans as the octolings nodded, gave a salute and left out of the room just looking at Blake as they walked past him.

"Blake?" asked Octavio.

"Hey...Octavio...I thought about your offer and...I decided to take it up," said Blake nervously.

"I knew you would Blake, said Octavio proudly. "Now, I have just got done with our battle plans of how to defeat those inkings," said Octavio. "come down, so I can go over them with you," said Octavio signaling Blake to follow him. Blake had just gotten even more nervous as he followed Octavio down a hatch that was in the middle of the floor in the room.

Blake and Octavio had entered the underground outpost watching the octarians and octolings preparing for battle.

Octavio informed Blake on his plans for the octarian army and wanted Blake to lead the attack. Blake remained silent and just nodded to Octavio. Octavio slapped Blake on the back nearly knocking him over, Blake just turned his head and rubbed his arm.

"What's wrong Blake?" asked Octavio.

"it's just that...wouldn't it be...better if I spied on Cuttlefish and the inklings first?" asked Blake nervously.

"That... may not be a bad idea, good thinking Blake, gather up as much as you can on Cuttlefish and the inklings...I'm sure they're massing an army themselves," said Octavio.

"I... will sir," saluted Blake nervously.

Blake left out of the underground outpost and headed back to Cuttlefish's, But unknown to Blake, Octavio asked one of the octolings to follow Blake and make sure that he was siding up with him for the nearing war between the races.

"Blake has been acting uneasy since he's arrived, Hmm...keep an eye on him," he commanded the octoling boy.

"Yes, I will sir," saluted the octoling soldier as he followed Blake.

* * *

Cuttlefish was sitting on the couch in his shack as he was fiddling with his bamboozled. Cuttlefish placed the weapon down on the table in front of him and gave a sigh. "I hope the lad had luck gaining Octavio's trust," said Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish got up and placed his hands in his pocket and heard a knock on his door. He approached the door and saw that it was Blake.

Blake had arrived back at Cuttlefish's to inform him of the battleplans that Octavio had told him about and how he wanted him to lead the attack.

"Appreciate it agent, we need to be on our toes about Octavio's plans. We can't allow him and the octarians to have the upper hand," said Cuttlefish.

"yeah, captain, glad to help, so I guess I'm under Octavio's wing now, or tentacle I mean," said Blake with indifference.

"well Bucko, as I said, don't arouse any suspicion, can't have your cover blown and do as he asks as long as it doesn't jeopardize our plans," said Cuttlefish.

But just as they were talking the head of a figure popped up outside the window of the cabin watching Blake and Cuttlefish. It was the octoling sent to spy on Blake.

"so that human is siding up with the inklings huh, I'll hang around and gather more intelligence before I report back to Octavio," said the octoling to himself as he ducked his head back down.

"Alright, I'll inform the inklings about this bucko, for now, keep gathering more information," said Cuttlefish. A knock was heard on the cabin door, Cuttlefish turned and walked over to the door and opened it. It was one of the inklings from the squidbeak platoon.

"Captain, we're ready," said the inkling.

"Good then, I'll be there in a second soldier," replied Cuttlefish as the inkling turned and walked away.

"Hey bucko, I gotta train the troops before the battle, as I said, gather up as much information on Octavio's plans as you can," said Cuttlefish as he walked out the door.

Blake watched Cuttlefish leave as he followed the inkling towards the village. Blake headed back to Octavio's but was unaware that the octoling sent to spy on him was watching him and Cuttlefish behind some bushes outside the cabin. The octoling decided to follow Cuttlefish and the inkling to watch their training.

An hour later Blake returned to Octavio's after talking with Cuttlefish. As Octavio was making preparations, Blake walked in to report to him.

He had walked back down the path and back to Octavio's base hoping that Octavio would believe the lie he would tell him.

"Well, what have you learned," asked Octavio.

"well...nothing to report sir, the inklings aren't even training or have created their own army," says Blake. Octavio shocked raising an eyebrow.

"Huh...I would think Cuttlefish would have formed an army by now, knowing him, hmmm...I'm not convinced...keep watching them, " said Octavio.

"yes, sir," said Blake as nodded and walked away.

A couple of octolings walked up to Octavio. "sir, we heard that the inklings aren't preparing for battle?" asked an octoling soldier. Octavio turned towards the octoling with a hard look.

"I don't believe him, he's hiding something...maybe that octoling I sent to spy on him will inform me on something," says Octavio.

He turns towards the octoling soldiers with a stern posture. "gather up the zapfish and power up the great octoweapons," ordered Octavio.

"yes, sir!" saluted the octoling soldiers as they walked away.

Octavio narrowed his eyes with a stern expression on his face. "If that human has betrayed me, I'll make sure he is dealt with along with Cuttlefish and those inkstains," says Ocatvio coldly.

But unaware to Octavio and the octolings, Blake was hiding behind some machinery while he had watched Octavio talk with the octoling soldiers about the spy, zapfish and the great octoweapons.

Blake soon turned and watched the octolings place some chubby yellow fish inside the large robotic creatures.

The fish were putting out electrical sparks while squirming around in these orbs they were trapped in.

"I gotta tell Cuttlefish about this," said Blake as he was crouched down.

Blake slowly got up and sneaked past the octarians and made his way back to the hatch undetected. He had hoped Octavio believed his report and wouldn't catch on to what he was really doing as he hurried back to Cuttlefish.

* * *

Cuttlefish was drilling the squidbeak platoon outside the village at a makeshift camp, teaching them formations and making them run through the obstacle course. Hours passed as the training progressed. The inklings were finally tuckered out.

"Ok, I guess that's all the training for today," says Cuttlefish.

The inklings moaned as they struggled to get up, some of them helping each other up and hobbling away. Cuttlefish turned to see Blake rushing towards him. He stops to lean over panting from exhaustion.

"What is it Bucko?" asked Cuttlefish. Blake raised up with his hand on his back.

"Captain (pant), Octavio (pant), zapfish (pant), Great octoweapons...uuuhhh, "Blake replies as he falls down.

"Easy lad, now slow down and tell me," exclaimed Cuttlefish helping Blake up.

Blake slowly collected himself and faced Cuttlefish with a serious look. "Ocatvio was powering up the great octoweapons with these zapfish," exclaimed Blake.

"zapfish?" said a confused Cuttlefish.

"yeah...I think Octavio and his army are preparing to attack soon." says a concerned Blake.

"by the battle plans Octavio had, I would say so, I'm afraid," says Cuttlefish also concerned.

"what do we do?" asks Blake with a distressed expression.

"I don't know lad, We may have to prepare for battle, unfortunately, I'll inform all the inklings about what's been going on," says Cuttlefish.

"what do you want me to do captain," asked Blake. "go home and train bucko, I may need you by my side," said Cuttlefish. "but, what about playing as Octavio's second in command," replied Blake.

"your right lad, I want you to mislead the octarian army and try to hold them off so we can get ready, I'll rally up the troops in the morning, but I still want you to try and get back here just in case you get found out," says Cuttlefish. Blake nods and heads back to Cuttlefish's to train.

Out of sight, the octoling spy watched the talk between Cuttlefish and Blake, also watching the inklings train and hear Cuttlefish's plot.

"I've got to report this to Octavio immediately," says the octoling spy as he makes his way back to Octavio.

Octavio soon hears about the intel that the octoling spy provided and is enraged about Blake deceiving him and Cuttlefish forming the squidbeak platoon.

"So those hipsters think they can pull a fast one on me, well their about to find out what happens when you tangle with this octopus, I'm gonna remix both their faces!" says an enraged Octavio clenching his fists and gritting his fangs.

two octoling soldiers walk up to Octavio. "We attack at dawn when the inklings will be too tired to get up from all that training," said Octavio sternly glaring back at the two quivering octolings.

"GET THE TROOPS READY! NOW!," commanded Octavio to a pair of octoling soldiers.

"ye...ye...yes sir!" complied the octolings in unison.

Octavio walked away back up into his home. He walked inside his bedroom, sliding back a door to a secret room. inside was his modified DJ booth that hovered off the floor when he turned it on.

He upscaled the booth with more powerful speakers that were able to shoot sonic blasts as well ink-filled missiles onboard to fire at targets.

Octavio turned towards his DJ samurai armor that he crafted laying against the wall. He placed the armor on and then placed the helmet on his head.

"I won't put my friends...my former friends, before my race. we will take what rightly belongs to the octarians. mark my words Cuttlefish I will defeat you and your platoon of inkstains," says Ocatvio as he clinched his fist up and walks out to rally the octarian army.

* * *

Back at Cuttlefish's cabin, Blake and Cuttlefish go over the strategy for tomorrow as Blake is still uneasy about the situation between the two races hoping that his actions can avert the war. Cuttlefish is also hoping that his plan will succeed, buying time for him and the inklings to get ready in the morning before Octavio'army can reach the inkling territory.

"Well bucko, I hope this plan works," says Cuttlefish.

"me too captain," replies Blake as his stomach growls.

"sounds like you're hungry, I haven't eaten myself, I'll get us some Krabby cakes," says Cuttlefish walking in the kitchen.

Cuttlefish retrieves some Krabby cakes out of the old fridge. After a moment Cuttlefish and Blake start eating, but Cuttlefish notices Blake's depressed look as he hesitantly bites into the cake.

"something the matter bucko, you're hardly eating," says Cuttlefish knowing that Blake is hungry.

"It's just... I'm not ready for tomorrow captain, I just wish...things would go back to the way they were and that you and Octavio can be friends again and the races wouldn't go to war with each other. " said a saddened Blake just looking at his food.

"well, bucko, I've tried talking to Octavio, but I'm not going to let our indifferences jeopardize what I think is best for the inklings, I'm obligated to protect what territory we have left and protect my people," says Cuttlefish.

"I know, captain," responds Blake.

Blake downs his head as conflicting thoughts run through his mind for a moment. "I'm headed to bed captain," says Blake as he walks off to the bedroom not finishing his Krabby cake.

Blake climbs into the hammock, he turns his head and looks at his bamboozler leaning against the wall and sighs for a moment, then turns his head back and stares at the ceiling.

Blake fights to keep his eyes open as he drifts to sleep with uneasy thoughts going through his head, knowing he has no choice but to follow through the plan that he and Cuttlefish had gone over.

Seeing the races and his two best friends fight each other, was something he could not stomach. Blake turned over facing the wall not eager for tomorrow to get here while Cuttlefish was at the doorway of the bedroom watching Blake.

Cuttlefish was also uneasy about the situation, knowing that this was putting a strain on Blake, but he also knew that he had to do what he had to do and just took a hard sigh and climbed into his hammock.

Cuttlefish rolled over facing the wall drifting to sleep needing the rest for tomorrow. The two of them slept while somewhere else Octavio was making the final preparations for the morning attack on the inklings, knowing that they would sleep in being too tired from the rigorous training that day.

**AFTERTHOUGHTS: This isn't looking good for Blake and the inklings. Looks like Octavio isn't keeping his guard down not even for Blake. Blake is now in Octavio's crosshairs and is eager to deal with the inklings once and for all, let's hope things get better.**


	8. Arc 1 Chapter 7

**Arc 1 Chapter 7 Surprise Attack**

**NOTE: This chapter is a little long but brief on the narration. It is the beginning of the great turf war. Blake and Cuttlefish will soon realize how they and the other inklings unprepared they are as they witness the destruction of their peaceful society. Let's hope and Cuttlefish will survive as tensions have boiled over to the point of no return.**

The sun had not quite risen yet as birds started to sing and the crickets were still chirping. Everything seemed calm compared to the past few months. Hours pass as Blake and Cuttlefish were still sleeping as well as all the inklings in the village that trained yesterday. It was getting later and Blake had finally woken up, heading to the kitchen as to not disturb Cuttlefish.

Blake sat on the couch with the Krabby cake he didn't finish last night. Thoughts were still stewing in his mind as to where things would go between the two races. Just then...

BOOM! an explosion is heard in the distance. A moment passes BOOM! another explosion, they sounded like they were coming from the village.

"What The!" shouted Blake in surprise as he jumped off the couch. He shortly rushes to the bedroom to wake Cuttlefish.

"Captain! Captain! Wake Up!" yelled Blake shaking Cuttlefish.

"just one more minute," mumbled Cuttlefish.

"Captain you have to get up! I think we're under attack!" shouted Blake to wake Cuttlefish.

"uhh...what's going on Bucko," asked Cuttlefish still groggy.

"Captain, I think we're being attacked!" explained Blake as another explosion can be heard.

"WHAT! We have to gather up everybody, We have to head down to the village now!" shouted Cuttlefish as he recollected himself grabbing Blake and the Bamboozlers and running out the door.

Cuttlefish and Blake ran down to the village as fast as they can. They notice the destruction from some of the explosions. An inkling runs up to Cuttlefish and Blake. "Captain! It's the octarians they've started the attack! we have to do something!" shouted the inkling in panic.

"Calm down! Is anyone injured?" asked Cuttlefish.

"We have some people hurt, but thankfully no one's been killed," answered the inkling.

"OK!" said Cuttlefish to the inkling then turned towards Blake. "Blake, I'm going with him to help the injured and get them to safety. Go down that street and check for any survivors and get them out of harm's way," commanded Cuttlefish.

Blake just nodded and ran towards the marketplace.

Some of the buildings in the village were on fire or destroyed from the surprise attack. Inklings could either be frantically running down the streets shouting for anyone that needed help or carrying people out of the buildings waiting for help. Blake was rushing down the street to look for any signs of life, but to no avail, as he made his way towards his old job.

Blake shouted as he got near the market. "Hello! is anyone hurt!" yelled Blake. Blake continued shouting for any help when he then turned back towards Mimi's clothes store. The store had partially collapsed and was on fire. Blake looked at the store horrified and rushed towards it.

"No...no...no, please be okay," said Blake in a panic to himself as he made his way inside.

The smoke filled the air as Blake was covering his mouth and coughing. Blake looked around to see if anyone was trapped in the building, so far there was no one, hoping that no one was in the building during the attack, but then all of a sudden he heard someone cough and mumble behind the counter. It was Mimi laying on the floor half-consciense.

"Mimi!" screamed Blake. Blake walked over and kneeled down checking on her. "Mimi, are you ok!" Blake asked in a panicked tone.

"B...B...Blake...Is that you," said Mimi weakly as she turned over to face him.

"Mimi, thank god you're alright. I'm gonna get you outta here," said Blake with relief.

He picked up Mimi, bridal style and carried her towards the door fighting the smoke and crumbling ceiling. Blake and Mimi barely made it out as the building finally collapsed behind them. Looking back thankful he got her out in the nick of time.

Blake placed Mimi down trying to keep her awake. "Mimi, stay with me, you're gonna be ok," said a stressed Blake.

Mimi finally opened her eyes. her sight slowly cleared up and saw Blake over her with a relieved expression and a smile on his face.

"Blake? Did...you save me?" asked Mimi still in shock.

"yes and I'm glad you're ok," replied Blake.

Mimi just froze in realization and rushed to hug Blake. "Thank you, Blake!" she cried as tears were falling.

after their embrace, Blake pulled Mimi off and looked at her in the eyes. "Mimi, I'm so sorry about the other day in the garden, it's just that I didn't want..." said Blake as he was cut off by Mimi pressing her finger against his mouth.

"It's...alright, Blake. You were just looking out for me, I understand," replied Mimi.

Blake downed his head in regret, but Mimi picked his head back up and kissed him on the cheek. "My hero," is all that Mimi said. grateful for being saved by the human she was infatuated with. The two soon leave the area and try to make it back to Cuttlefish and any survivors.

* * *

It was early in the morning. The octarian army was getting into their battle stations. the tentacle creatures with bugged green eyes and big lips had hopped on platforms that carried them around. Large fat creatures with a tentacle for arms and small legs had a helmet placed on their heads with a propeller attached to it. this gave them the ability to fly and they carried bombs on them. There were multiple different types of octarian type creatures that were modified for the coming battle.

Octolings had gathered up, these were the octarian counterparts of inklings and they were wearing armor and carrying what looked like squirt guns filled with ink.

"All right! Is everyone in position!" yelled a black tentacled octoling to the masses of octarians and octolings. They all yelled "Yes, Ma'am!"

"We attack now! while they are still asleep from the exhaustion of training!" yelled the black tentacle octoling.

"lazy inkstains," the black tentacle octoling muttered to herself as she sneered.

The army moved out of the underground base and pushed forward into the valley. The octobombers flew ahead of everyone and set their sights on the village below. They picked targets to bomb as they swooped down. As they dropped bombs on the village the octarians waited until they got done, preparing to charge in during the panic and may lay.

Octavio soon appeared looking down on the village. He narrowed his eyes and took a hard look at the bomb runs conducted by the octobombers. "This ends now inklings, its time for the rise of the octarians and to take what belongs to us, there's not enough room for the both of us," said Octavio.

"Sir! the octobombers have stopped, do we proceed," asked the black tentacle octoling.

Octavio looked at the octoling coldly. "commence with the ground attack," commanded Octavio.

"yes, sir!" saluted the black tentacled octoling. She then looked back at the army and yelled "CHARGE!" soon the octarian army pushed through the valley towards the village. ready to attack.

* * *

"Bucko! There you are! What can you report," asked Cuttlefish.

"I managed to rescue Mimi and the both us have helped as many inklings as we can and got them to safety," replied Blake.

"what's happening Cuttlefish!?" asked a distressed Mimi.

"The Octarians have begun the attack, we have to get everyone out of the village ASAP, I'm sure they plan on staging a ground attack anytime now," replied Cuttlefish.

"Me and some of the squidbeak will stay back and keep them occupied while you get the rest of the inklings to safety," said Cuttlefish to Blake.

"Not gonna happen Captain, If you're staying back then I am too," protested Blake.

"No, Bucko! I need someone to lead the inklings out of the valley, your agent zero, that's an order!" commanded Cuttlefish.

"Agent zero?" questioned Mimi.

"It's a long story," said Blake to Mimi. "But I don't care about the agent title, I'm not leaving you and the others behind!" protested Blake again to Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish was getting agitated and just took a long sigh. "Bucko, I'm not gonna argue with you, please think about those inklings that need you to get them out of the valley, just...do it Blake, I'm begging you, pleaded Cuttlefish as he calmed down and gave Blake a compassionate look.

Blake took a long sigh with his head bowed and looked back up. "Alright, Captain...but promise me you'll make it back, ok," said Blake.

"I promise, this is Cuttlefish you're talking about, lad, now go," said Cuttlefish with confidence.

Blake nodded. "I'll hold you to that," said Blake as he and Mimi left to get the other inklings to safety.

Cuttlefish then had positioned the squidbeak for battle and readied themselves to fight the octarians.

* * *

The octarian army pushed further in the valley until they reached the village. The Octarian forces spread out through the village looking for any survivors. As the Octarians moved through the streets they were unaware they were being watched.

As some octarian octotroopers on platforms were scanning the streets, the first one was splatted by an squidbeak with a bamboozler on top of a building. Soon two more were picked off unsure what had happened. "Yeah, we got'em!" celebrated one of the squidbeak.

They soon moved on to pick off more targets. Many octotroopers were splatted by surprise attacks carried out by the squidbeak platoon. "this is too easy," said one of the squidbeak, but their pride was crushed when they saw the octobombers returning. As they got close one of the squidbeak yelled, "Take Over!"

The inklings took cover out of sight of the octobombers, hoping not to get caught. When the octobombers finally left, the inklings pushed out to find better vantage points.

As more and more Octotroopers were picked off, one of squidbeaks was being zeroed in on. A red lighted dot appeared on his chest, unsure what it was, he was splatted instantly. "Sam!" one of the inklings screamed. "What happened!" yelled another inkling.

Soon the red dot appeared on another squidbeak, but the inkling jumped down before a beam of ink flew over him. "Bill, are you okay!?" shouted an inkling to the one that almost got splatted. "I'm alright, where did that shot come from?" asked Bill.

"I don't know," said a female squidbeak. "Keep your eyes peeled said a male squidbeak.

The inklings were being mindful and watching for any movement, just then the bright red dot appeared on the female squidbeak. "Yoko, watch out!" said a male inkling grabbing her down just in time. "Yoko, you ok," asked the male inkling.

"I'm fine," said Yoko.

"There!" shouted an inkling.

It was an Octarian trooper but he was bigger and had a long spout hooked up to his mouth and was wearing goggles. He was perched on the roof of a tall building overlooking the inkling's positions. He tried to line up another shot on the squidbeak when SPLAT! the octosniper was put out of commission for good.

The squidbeak was looking around for who killed the octarian. they all shrugged as they looked at each other. Then a figure appeared on the opposite side of the overlook from the octosniper. It was no other than Cuttlefish holding up his bamboozler.

"Captain?!" yelled Yoko. "Nice shot!" said the male inkling that saved Yoko.

"Alright squidbeak! We have a lot of ground to cover. The octarians are slowly advancing and they'll soon be on top of us. I just hope we bought Blake and the others enough time," said Cuttlefish.

"Cuttlefish we lost Sam," said Bill

"Yeah, and there's too many of them, we can't match to those gadgets their using, we have to fall back," said a male inkling.

"I wanna be sure that Blake and the inklings have gotten far enough away to safety, we need to hold out a little longer," said Cuttlefish to the group.

"If we can make it that long," said the Male inkling snidely.

"We're the squidbeak platoon we took an oath to protect this valley from all threats, don't forget that!" said Cuttlefish sternly surprising everyone.

"He's right!" said Bill

"Yeah!," followed by Yoko.

Cuttlefish and the rest of squidbeak held up their bamboozlers and tapped them together. They all shouted, "for all the inklings!" yelled the group in unison as the octarians moved in closer.

* * *

Blake, Mimi, and the rest of the inklings finally made it out of the valley and up the foothills. The inklings looked back at the village saddened that they had to leave their homes from the octarian attack. Blake was worrying about Cuttlefish hoping that he'll survive and make his way back. Mimi tried to comfort and reassure that Cuttlefish is tough and would return when he could, hugging Blake.

Blake was pained at the situation. He thought about the inklings, how they got attacked and being driven out of their homes. Blake clutched his bamboozler and gave a deep sigh. "I can't believe Octavio would do this," muttered to himself as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder from behind.

It was Mimi. "Blake... things...will get better, I'm so glad that you got us all to safety," Mimi said trying to lift his spirits.

Blake turned towards Mimi then placed his head down. "yeah, but I hated that the inklings got attacked, I guess now peace is out of the question, " Blake said in distress.

Blake gave a sigh and picked his head back up, facing Mimi. "I'd hope it would have never come to this," said Blake.

Mimi placed her hand under Blake's chin. "You got us all to safety, that's all that matters right now," said a supportive Mimi.

Mimi then gave Blake a hug and Blake returned wrapping his arms around her as well.

A voice soon caught their attention and they looked towards the direction of the voice and saw a figure waving at them. It was Ammoses looking over them up the hill with Judd standing beside him.

"Ammoses?" said a surprised, but relieved Blake.

The two, run up to him. "Ammoses, what are doing up here!?" asked Blake.

"I come up this way to my archeological sites to dig and find more and more human artifacts," replied Sheldon. Sheldon's expression soon changes as he sees the whole village down the hill behind Blake and Mimi, then the village itself.

"Oh no, I'd hope this wouldn't happen sooner, " said a grieving Ammoses.

Ammoses looked and saw Cuttlefish wasn't with them. "Wait, where's Cuttlefish!" shouted a panicked" Ammoses.

"He...had to stay back and by us some time... I wanted to stay back with him, but he...ordered me to take the village to safety," explained Blake putting his head down while Mimi comforted him.

"I...see, " said Ammoses distressed turning his head and lowering it. after a moment he picked his head back up. "I know Cuttlefish will make it," said Ammoses reassuring himself.

"I know he will," responded Blake. Blake hesitated for a moment and looked back at Ammoses. "Ammoses, is there a place that the village could stay at up here," asked Blake.

"Yeah, there is, I haven't been there yet, but I've seen it from the camp. There is what a believe to be the remnants of an ancient human city, southwest of here, but it's a good walk though," exclaimed Ammoses.

"We have no choice, We'll rest up here for an hour and make our way to those ruins," said Blake.

"Alright, then I'll gather up all my things," said Ammoses as he walked away with Judd.

Blake turned back to the village with a pained expression. "Blake...are you ok? " asked Mimi with concern.

"Yeah, let's just get everyone up the hill," said Blake.

"Please, make it back Captain," Blake thought to himself.

* * *

The octarian octobombers made another bombing run hoping to flush out the squidbeak platoon. two inklings were killed and one injured.

The inklings on the rooftops squid jumped as soon as it was clear and made their way down to the street level.

Cuttlefish ordered the squidbeak to pull back further into the village, as they made their way, they were taking fire from two octosnipers from on top of the buildings.

Some of the inklings went to squid form and scurred down the street to avoid the enemy ink being shot at them, but some of the inklings didn't squid form in time and took some hits.

one inkling is shot and killed. another one is struck in the leg and falls down, two squidbeaks carry the inkling with them. They steadily run and run while taking fire while octotroopers were chasing them down the street, until they reached the garden where Blake and Mimi hung out.

They bend over catching their breath from trying to outrun the octarians.

"Captain, We (pant) can't take (pant) any more of this! We may have to surrender!" exclaimed a male inkling while catching his breath.

"Surrender is not an option soldier, We 're squidbeak and we'll keep fighting to the last squid," yelled a displeased Cuttlefish.

The group was battle-worn and weary. They tended to the injured hoping they could find another place to hide. Then all of a sudden.

"Cuttlefish!" a voice yelled out from outside the garden.

The squidbeak turn and look. On the street in front of the entrance of the garden was no other than Octavio himself with the black tentacled octoling beside him holding an ink gun and the octarian army behind him.

"Cuttlefish, you and your squidbeaks will be given a chance to surrender, I would heed this opportunity while you have it," said Octavio.

"what do we do?" asked an inkling

"we...may have no choice," said another inkling.

"Captain! what do you want us to do?" asked Bill to Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish squatted down and pondered about their dilemma. A moment passes. "Cuttlefish! what will it be!" roared Octavio outside the garden.

Cuttlefish then thought of a plan. He looked over the squidbeak and let out a sigh. "squids, it's been a pleasure fighting alongside you, but I'm not gonna put you in harm's way anymore, I'm gonna face Octavio while you all make an escape," explained the Captain.

"No Captain! You can't!" cried Yoko who was shot in the arm from the fire.

"We won't let you do it!" protested a male inkling.

Cuttlefish faced the group again. "That's an order!" yelled Cuttlefish startling the inklings.

Cuttlefish made his way out of the garden and glared at Octavio and the octarians.

"Where's the rest of your squidbeak, Cuttlefish?" asked Octavio sternly.

"That's Captain Cuttlefish to you! and don't worry about them, this is between me and you, Octavio!" whipped Cuttlefish.

"Hmmm, still stubborn as usual and that's DJ Octavio to you! it's time you and the rest of those inkstains serve the octarians and maybe we'll go easy on you," said Octavio sneering.

"Screw you! Me and the inklings will never be placed under the thumb of the octarians," shouted Cuttlefish angrily at his former friend.

"So be it, Troops! take this hipster away until he learns some proper manners for his new rulers," ordered Cuttlefish.

As the octoling soldiers made their way to Cuttlefish with ink guns drawn, they notice the squidbeak charging from behind Cuttlefish shooting ink at them.

It had turned into the OK corral between the squidbeak and some of the octoling troops. Cuttlefish yelled, "WHAT! I told you to get out of here!"

"Like you said, we're squidbeak and we fight to the last squid," yelled Bill as he was shooting down the octolings.

Octolings were getting splatted and the black tentacled Octoling shielded Octavio from the fighting. "Splat those inkstains!" ordered the octoling.

an octoling lined a shot on Cuttlefish and pulled the trigger. Just then Bill jumped in front of Cuttlefish and had hit him and he was splatted instantly.

"NOOOO!" yelled Cuttlefish reaching his arm out kneeling. He held his head down seeing his friend get splatted in front of him.

When the dust settled all of the squidbeak were splatted with Cuttlefish still remaining. "You'll pay for that little ambush!" shouted Octavio to Cuttlefish. He looked at the black tentacled octoling. "Finish him!" barked Octavio.

The black tentacled octoling stepped forward and aimed her weapon at Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish got up and clinched his fist. He held his head up and death stared at Octavio and the octarians. "Mark my words Ocatvio! I will avenge my comrades and all the inklings you've hurt and killed!" shouted Cuttlefish holding back his tears.

"hmpf, empty words, shoot him!" ordered Octavio to the black tentacled octoling with her gun still drawn.

Just then Cuttlefish squid formed and jumped as far as he could with the black tentacled octoling shooting at him. He took a hit on one of his tentacles and yelled in pain as he landed back down hard outside the village near the foothills. Cuttlefish went back to his bipedal form and laid on the ground in pain. After a moment his eyes began to blur as he was fighting to stay consciense.

Cuttlefish could hear footsteps approaching. He was fighting to move as he saw a figure look over him crouching down. He could not make the figure out but heard muffled talking unable to make it out as he finally closed his eyes and went unconsciense.

**AFTERTHOUGHTS: The Octarians have destroyed and taken the inkling village causing a great exodus of inklings to flee to the foothills led by Blake and Mimi. Cuttlefish and the Squidbeak platoon stay back to bide time for Blake and village as well as fight of the Octarian invaders. Seems the odds are in Octavio's favor let's hope the tables turn soon and the inklings take back there home.**


	9. Arc 1 Chapter 8

**Arc 1 Chapter 8**

**NOTE: Went back and added some paragraphs. Did some grammar corrections too. Seems the inklings lost their home to the octarians, the squidbeak platoon was wiped out for say Cuttlefish who barely got aware. Things aren't looking good and Blake is still brooding over the visions he's been having and that the great turf war has started. Witnessing the destruction of the inkling's village and their lives has taken a toll on Blake even though he agreed to the lead the inklings to safety, he's keeping his composure praying for any glimmer of hope through this dark time.**

Three figures were in a confined room. An older man, an older woman, and a young girl. The man was standing and the woman and girl were sitting on a bed. The man had a distressed look on his face facing the two females.

"Dad?" asked the young girl. "what's going on and where's Blake?" she asked again.

"I... don't know Amy...I hope your brother managed to escape and got help," said the man as he downed his head.

The girl got up off the bed and walked over to the man and hugged him.

"Dad, me and mom are here for you, I know we'll get out of this," said Amy comforting him.

"I'm...sorry I got you both into this mess, " the man said and turned towards Amy and his wife.

"It's ok, dear," said his wife. She got up and walked over hugging her husband.

for a moment as the three were hugging one another the doorknob turned and the door opened to the small room.

A man in a lab coat appeared and waved the family to come out.

"Dr. Brians?" exclaimed the man with his family.

"Dr. Carter, I'm here to get you and your family out, follow me to the cryostasis pod control room," led Dr. Brians.

They soon reached the pod control room with Dr. Brians explaining the situation. Dr. Brians tells Dr. Carter about the serum being released and that an emergency self-sustaining pod launching from the ship and back down to earth.

"No, don't tell me that..." Dr. Carter said as he was cut off by Dr. Brians.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, the crew managed to get a camera feed of who was inside before the pod got out of range. It...was your son," exclaimed Dr. Brians depressingly

"My son!" said a saddened Dr. Carter with family hugging him.

"I'm...sorry Dr. Carter," said Dr. Brians.

"Is there anything we could do?" asked Dr. Carter desperately.

"I'm afraid not Dr. Carter...wait! there might be a way. There are some rescue shuttles on this ship for emergencies, but," said Dr. Brians as he was cut off and grabbed by Dr. Carter.

"Dr. Brian, We have no time, get us to one of the rescue shuttles," asked Dr. Carter frantically.

Dr. Brians gives Dr. Carter an estranged look and sighs. "Alright, I'll take you to the rescue shuttles," said Dr. Brians as him Dr. Carter and his family rush towards the holding bay of the shuttles.

They finally get to the rescue shuttle and climb aboard. Dr. Carter looks back at Dr. Brians and waves, "thank you for everything and inform everyone on what's been going on, we'll be back shortly," shouted Dr. Carter on the rescue shuttle.

The bay door opens and the rescue shuttle takes off towards the earth to retrieve the pod that Blake was in.

The shuttle descends with no pod in sight, but as they descended, the heat from the atmosphere causes some damage to the shuttle and they slowly lose control. Controls on the shuttle frantically flash and beep. The shuttle soon dives further down.

Dr. Carter attempts to regain control as his family is panicking. he levels out the shuttle as they crash into the ocean. The shuttle sinks but a giant life preserver is deployed under the craft allowing to float back up to the surface.

The family opens the hatch looking around when the shuttle finally emerges out of the water.

"what do we do now? asked Amy. "I'm not sure, I hope your brother made the landing," said Dr. Carter. "It looks like we won't be making it back to the Ark," said Dr. Carter looking up at the sky.

They soon spot an island in the distance. "we'll make our way to that island, I'll get the life raft ready and gather up some supplies," he told his family.

They make their way to the island hoping that Blake's pod might have washed ashore.

The image like the ones before fades to black.

* * *

Blake finally woke up slowly opening his eyes from the dream he had. Seeing everything that transpired, He was convinced that they were his family and that he needed to find them. He soon noticed an arm around him as he turned over, it was Mimi sleeping beside him. He remembered the night before how she wanted to lay with him for comfort. Everything that had been happening had worked her nerves and she was scared.

Blake sighed and lifted Mimi's arm up and laid it beside her. He quietly got up out of the tent and looked around. They made it to the ruins the night prior to seeking shelter. Ammoses told them about the ancient human ruins and said that it may be the safest place for the inklings to reside for the time being. The ruins comprised of old buildings short and tall, some completely collapsed and others were partially intact. They were covered in foliage as well as old rusted out cars that were laying around the ruins.

He started to walk over to a large tent where Ammoses and a few other inklings were treating the wounded. Blake made his way inside and saw Ammoses looking over a figure lying on a bed. He made his way over to Ammoses and looked at the recuperating figure.

"How is he Ammoses," asked Blake.

"He'll be fine, he just needs a lot of rest," responded Ammoses.

Blake looked back over towards the figure. It was no other than Cuttlefish. His left arm was bandaged as well as his head while he laid on the bed in deep sleep.

"It's a good thing you went back and found him when you did," said Ammoses.

"Yeah, I'm glad I did too...I just hope he recovers soon," replied Blake.

Blake was startled when he felt someone rubbing against his leg purring. It was Judd, consoling Blake, "It's not your fault Blake, as a matter of fact, you may have saved him," said Judd telepathically.

Blake looked down at Judd petting him. "thanks, Judd" said Blake with relief.

Judd looked into Blake's eyes sensing something else was troubling him. "Blake?" asked Judd.

"yeah, Judd," answered Blake.

"You remember, don't you?" said Judd.

"huh?... what are you talking about?" questioned Blake hiding his emotions.

"How you got in that pod, where you came from...your family," said Judd.

"how...did you know?" asked Blake in utter surprise wondering if Judd was also a mind reader.

"I can sense these things...It must be difficult, but I'm glad your starting to remember, I hope things clear up" said Judd as he leaves the tent.

Blake turned back to Cuttlefish then Ammoses. "I heard the conversation who had with Judd, maybe you'll find your family soon," said Ammoses putting his hand on Blake's shoulder trying to reassure him.

"I...hope so...for now I just want Cuttlefish to recover and take care of the inklings," replied Blake.

Blake soon walked out of the tent to be confronted by Mimi. "Oh hey, Mimi," greeted Blake to Mimi.

Mimi had a concerned look on her face. "How, his he," asked Mimi with pleading eyes.

"Ammoses says he'll be fine as long as he gets some rest," replied Blake trying to relieve Mimi.

"That's good news, I'm glad you left when you did last night, even though I was trying to stop you from going back to the village," said Mimi

"well you were just looking out for me and you knew the inklings needed someone here to take care of them, but I had to go back and check on Cuttlefish and the others," replied Blake.

Mimi soon felt some relief from the situation and grabbed Blake's hand and the two walked away to check on the rest of the inklings.

* * *

The village was finally occupied by the octarians. The troops had regrouped to the center of the village and placed patrols along the streets while octobombers and octocopters flew around for any inkling stragglers.

"Sir, we have successfully captured the village and the valley, what are your next orders," asked a saluting octoling soldier.

"Those inkstains have gotten away, along with that hipster, Cuttlefish. No matter, we'll catch up to them eventually, assemble the troops and We'll discuss our next move," commanded Octavio.

"Yes, Sir!" replied the octoling as he walked away.

"Sir, what about that treacherous human, I don't think our ink is effective on him as the inklings," asked the black tentacled octoling.

"don't you worry about him, I have something in store for that bonehead, make sure all the troops are accounted for, before I have the army head out," jeered Octavio.

"yes, I will sir!" the black tentacle octoling saluted.

the black tentacled octoling soon turned and walked away. Octavio had many thoughts running through his head about Cuttlefish and inklings. He had pondered what they would do next and with Blake with them, this made things a bit more complicated with Blake being invulnerable to ink.

Hours passed and a team of octolings rushed to Octavio with urgent news. "Octavio, sir we have some news!" exclaimed a male octoling.

"That's DJ Octavio, soldier!" barked Octavio.

"M...My apologizes sir! but we have news from underground, our troops have come across these giant domes, they came across more ancient human technology, much better intact than what has ever been dug up!" exclaimed the octoling.

"Interesting, send what soldiers you can down there and report back," ordered Octavio.

"yes, sir! though the domes seem to be unhabitable we can see with we can power them up with the zapfish," suggested an octoling.

"very well, return to me when the domes are powered," said Octavio.

The octolings saluted and left for the domes.

* * *

At the ruins of the human city, Blake was walking around exploring the landscape. He was fascinated by the structures and the vehicles littering the streets. Mimi wanted to tag along but he insisted that she stay behind so she couldn't get into any danger and have time to himself, thinking about his family.

Blake entered what looked to be a plaza area with stores surrounding one side and what looks to be an old tram station on the other. Much of the buildings and the station were preserved for their age. He walked into one of the stores and looked around. It seemed to be an old department store with old merchandise laying around and old mildewed clothes hanging on racks.

Blake left out of the store and explored some more. He headed further down the street until he heard a voice behind him. "Blake! Their you are! I've been looking all over for you!" shouted Mimi running towards him.

"Mimi, what are you doing here!" asked Blake in surprise.

"I was worried, I didn't want to stay back knowing something could happen to you, we don't know anything about this place," said a concerned Mimi. "plus it's just you... haven't been yourself lately and I talked to Judd about it," said Mimi.

"It's just I wanted time to myself, Mimi. I've had a lot on my mind," said Blake.

"did you wanna talk about, if not I...understand," said Mimi.

Blake thought about the time when they were in the garden and did not want to hurt Mimi's feelings. He gave a sigh and turned to Mimi.

"Sure, but let's find a place to sit," said Blake as they both made their way back to the ruined plaza.

They found a bench to sit on and Blake paused for a moment before telling Mimi about the dreams he had been having.

Their conversation lasted for nearly half an hour as Blake was giving her the details about the events that transpired to his family crashing back down to earth searching for him.

"I'm so sorry Blake, I'm sure they're ok, we'll see if we can help you find them," said Mimi consoling Blake.

"I...hope so, I have to find them, " said Blake sadly as tears started to form.

Mimi moved over to give blake a hug. She then pulled off and looked Blake in the eye. "I know we'll find them, Blake, you've helped us all out and it's time we help you out, well after the war of course," said Mimi reassuring Blake.

Blake wiped his eyes and looked at Mimi, "thank you, Mimi," he said gratefully.

A moment of silence passed as Mimi rubbed her arm and then turned her face to Blake with her emotions stewing. Blake turned and looked at Mimi seeing something was on her mind that she wanted to get out.

Mimi slowly slid over toward Blake accidentally placing her hand over on Blake's. Mimi continued to stare at Blake with a blush forming. Blake was catching on how Mimi felt about him but he conflicted about it, being she was an inkling. "Blake," she said as Blake turned to look back at Mimi.

Mimi then moved her face closer to his and kissed him on the lips. Blake froze from the gesture and then relaxed after a few seconds. He didn't expect Mimi to kiss him and she soon pulled her lips off him. Mimi giggled to her first kiss. "I've... always had feelings for you Blake, "said a blushing Mimi.

"Mimi I...I'm glad to have you as a friend, or should I say...girlfriend," said Blake blushing and rubbing the back of his head.

"you...mean that, Blake," said Mimi turning red-faced.

"yes, Mimi," replied Blake as he pulled her into another kiss.

The two just embraced each other for a little while. It was getting late and two of them decided that it was getting too dark to walk back to the camp. Blake spotted a ramp leading up to the second story of a building. The walk up the ramp and entered the building.

Blake looks around, it appeared to be an old news studio, some of the equipment was still laying around covered in moss. They walk through the rooms until they found one that was the most hospitable. There was an almost preserved bed inside and Blake brushed off debris that laying on it.

"well, we can sleep here for the night," said Blake.

"I don't like the dark, but being here with you, I feel safe Blake," said Mimi in relief.

The two of them climb on the bed and laid there until they fell asleep. Mimi placed her arm on Blake like she did the other night, Blake turned and kissed Mimi on the forehead. The two soon closed their eyes and finally went to sleep.

* * *

Octavio was pacing at the underground base, waiting for reports on the battle plans to catch the inklings and about the domes. Just then the black tentacled octoling walked in and gave Octavio the news about assembling the troops to catch up with the inklings.

"good, send a detachment to track the inklings and bring them back here and send the Octostomp with them," ordered Octavio.

The Octostomp was a giant metal square-shaped octoweapon powered by a zapfish. It had an ink-covered face and tiny legs under it.

"Yes, I'll inform them Octavio," saluted the octoling as she walked out.

The Octostomp had a zapfish place in it. The octostomp came alive and sat up with its eyes glowing. Once it was powered up a sentient purple tentacle popped out of the top of it as it wiggled when the octoweapon powered up. It roared and walked torward the Octarian detachment as the troops were a little nervous at the sight of the giant octo weapon.

When the black tentacled octoling made it back to the army, she directed the detachment and informed them of the mission. They saluted and moved out with the Octostomp tromping behind them roaring.

"I don't understand why we're bringing that big palooka with us, the inklings will see him coming a mile away," said one of the octoling soldiers.

"Octavio's orders, I won't question them, let's just move out and get those inkstains," replied another octoling.

The octoling detachment soon made their way out of the village and towards the foothills with the octostomp in tow.

The octolings made it up the hill and scanned for any sign of the inklings. Soon one of the octolings spotted tracks heading southwest of their position.

In the distance, the octolings spot the ruins of a human city in the direction of the tracks.

"They must've headed that way, let's move out!" ordered the octoling.

The octolings marched towards the direction of the ruins with the octostomp still behind them.

**AFTERTHOUGHTS: Well hope you enjoyed the chapter. Cuttlefish seems like he's out of the fight for some time and Blake has finally accepted Mimi's feelings. Seems the war had pulled lives apart and brought lives together. It seems Octavio and the octarians won't rest until the apprehend all the inklings, it seems driving them out of their homes wasn't enough. I wonder what's with the underground domes and what Octavio plans on doing with them, wonder how they got down there what they were built for? We may soon find out, keep reading.**


	10. Arc 1 Chapter 9

**Arc 1 Chapter 9**

The ruins were quiet, not a sound was heard, nothing was stirring. Inside a two-story building located near the plaza of the ancient city were two figures still fast asleep. An orange headed inkling laying with her new human boyfriend. Blake and Mimi were facing each other still asleep until Mimi started to blink her eyes and raised her head. She finally sat up and stretched her arms to yawn. She turned and looked at Blake with a smile.

she eyed the teeth marks she put on Blake's neck sometime during the night when he was still asleep. It was a way that inkling's marked their mates so no one else would make a move on an inkling that was already in a relationship with someone. It was usually on the ears, but his were too small, so she settled for his neck.

Blake started to stur and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and turned towards Mimi. "morning, Mimi," said Blake with a slight smile.

"morning Blake, how did you, sleep," asked Mimi.

"pretty good, though I felt something bite me in the neck," said Blake rubbing his neck.

Mimi turned her head hiding her red face. "I guess we should head back to the camp, I'm sure everyone is wondering where we were at," said Mimi.

"Yeah, we better leave, come on let's get going," said Blake leading Mimi out of the old studio.

Blake and Mimi left the plaza and made their way back to the camp. But they were greeted by an agitated and worried Ammoses.

"Where have you two been! We've all been worried that something happened to you two! Explain yourselves!" demanded Ammoses looking at them hard with his arms bent propped on his sides.

"Sorry Ammoses, I just needed some time to myself, but Mimi wanted to come check on me and made sure I was ok," explained Blake rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm sorry too, Ammoses. It got too dark for us to make it back and we had to find a place to sleep for the night," said Mimi defending Blake.

"I... guess that's understandable, what you've been through and those dreams you were talking about," said Ammoses as he sighed and forgave the two of them. "well Blake, there is someone awake that wants to see you," guided Ammoses to a large tent.

Blake, Ammoses, and Mimi walk in the tent to see Cuttlefish sitting on his bed.

"Cuttlefish!," shouted Mimi rushing over and hugging him.

"Ok, Lass...you're...hurting my arm," said Cuttlefish trying to get his words out.

Mimi pulled off, "sorry," she said as Blake walked over to Cuttlefish.

"Captain, I'm glad to see your ok," said Blake as he hugged Cuttlefish without binding him.

"Good to see you too bucko," said Cuttlefish holding his bandaged arm.

After a while Cuttlefish explained to the Blake, Ammoses, and Mimi about the battle they had with octarians. How squidbeak was killed off and the octarians capturing the village. Cuttlefish downed his head feeling he didn't do enough to stop the octarians or save his friends. Blake stepped up and placed his hand on Cuttlefish and assured him that he gave it his all and that he was glad he made it back and kept his promise. Cuttlefish smiled and hugged Blake with tears forming to see his human friend again.

Minutes passed as the four of them walked out of the tent in front of the large crowd of inklings. Cuttlefish stepped in front of his friends to deliver an energizing speech. "Today we take back the valley from Octavio and his army! We will avenge our fallen squid brethren who gave their lives to keep you safe from the octo-menace! Prepare for war my fellow squids we train today!" shouted Cuttlefish with zealousness.

The inklings yelled and cheered, eager to reclaim back their homes from the octarians. Ammoses built as many bamboozlers as much as he could as well as crafted ink-bombs with what material he had.

After a while, the inklings trained to shoot the bamboozlers. shooting at cars and other objects lying around. Mimi had also decided to arm herself and train with Blake helping her. Mimi blushed as Blake was behind her showing how to shoot and position herself.

Mimi with Blake practiced until she got efficient enough to hit targets. Cuttlefish walked over and congratulated the two.

Cuttlefish watched the inklings train hoping they had a fighting chance, but with confidence, he thinks they would.

* * *

Octavio made his way to the domes. He had a hatch built like a tea kettle near Cuttlefish's after Cuttlefish fled and used his cabin as an observation post. He opened the top of the kettle going into octo form. The kettle closed and steamed and Octavio shot down a pipe towards the domes.

When Octavio made it to the other end also looking like a tea kettle, he got out and reverted back to his bipedal form. Octavio was nauseated and was trying not to vomit. "There has got to be a better way to get down here, than that," said an aggravated Octavio to himself.

The inside of the dome was huge and filled with giant tv screens that were lining the walls. The octolings managed to power the domes with zapfish causing the screens to come on and platforms to float in the air around them. The screens showed a simulated sky depending on the time of the day it was. A large light above simulated sunlight for the dome.

Octavio made his way further into the dome and found the octolings fiddling with some old computers.

"what have you found out?" asked Octavio.

"Octavio, Sir, we are still trying to tap into these computers but we can't understand the language on the screens," explained an octoling.

Octavio looked at the screen and noticed that it was human lettering like on Blake's ID card he had seen two years ago. He had also noticed an emblem on the corner of the screen that he recognized. It was the Namabo icon from the back of Blake's ID card. "huh...Namabo?" Octavio muttered.

"Sir?" asked a baffled octoling.

"It's nothing, Keep working on it until you find something," commanded Octavio as he walked away.

Octavio looked around in astonishment wondering what the domes were for. octotroopers made their way up the platforms scouting and looking around for anything. Octolings were pushing their way further into the domes with a transport system like the kettles used for getting back to the surface.

* * *

It had done reached noon and the inklings were finishing their training to take a break and eat. Cuttlefish sat down holding his arm waiting for it to heal.

"Cuttlefish go easy, I know you're stubborn, but you need to let that arm heal," scolded Blake approaching him.

"Inklings heal pretty fast bucko, I'm not gonna let a clipped tentacle keep me from doing my job," responded Cuttlefish.

Blake sighed and looked back at his wounded mentor. "you'll never change, will you Captain," said Blake shaking his head.

Their talk was cut short as they felt stomping coming from the direction of the village. The inklings cut their break short and grabbed their bamboozlers fearing another octarian surprise attack.

Cuttlefish jumped up with Blake trying to brace him. "prepare for anything squids!" shouted Cuttlefish.

They waited and got into fighting positions listening to the stomping that was getting louder. The stomping soon stopped and as a moment passed a giant square figure leaped and landed near the camp and gave a gargled roar.

"What is that thing!" screamed Mimi holding her bamboozler.

"Everyone, disperse, its one of the great octoweapons! " commanded Cuttlefish to the inklings.

The crowd panics and frantically runs around while others shoot at the octoweapon. It's no use the ink has little effect on the giant beast. It gives another roar and jumps up and lands down on the ground face down kicking its legs. The inklings that didn't get out of the way in time are splatted under the giant creature. The octostomp manages to get up and repeats the process two more times splatting more inklings.

"Captain! what do we do! We're no match for that thing!" yelled a male inkling.

"There's gotta be a way to stop that thing," says Cuttlefish to himself.

"Cuttlefish!" yelled Ammoses running towards them.

"yes, Ammoses, what is it!" asked Cuttlefish distressed.

"I noticed when it landed down it had a tentacle moving around on top of it, It could possibly be its weak point since its body is armored," explained Ammoses.

"I guess we'll have to see then," said Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish started to bend down to squid form when he was stopped by Blake. "Captain you're still wounded, I won't let you fight that thing," protested Blake.

"Bucko, I have to! this is Cuttlefish you're talking to, besides my arm is starting to feel better," responded Cuttlefish.

"Fine, but I'll distract it!" said Blake.

"No, you can't squid form to avoid its movements, I won't let you put yourself in danger," demanded Cuttlefish.

"I'll be ok Captain, this is agent zero you're talking to!" Blake whipped back.

Cuttlefish just gave a slight smile and accepted his defeat to the argument. "Ok, Bucko, then let's do this!" shouted Cuttlefish.

Blake was moving around getting the hulking creature's attention while Cuttlefish looked for the opportunity to climb on the beast. The octostomp chased Blake around and landed its face forward attempting to squish him. As soon the octostomp got up is was dazed and gave Cuttlefish a chance to shoot ink at its side allowing him to swim in the ink and get on top of it.

The octostomp bucked Cuttlefish off of it as soon as it came to its senses. Cuttlefish landed back down clutching his arm. "Captain you ok!" shouted Blake. "yeah, I'm fine, we need to try that plan again," said Cuttlefish. "OK!" shouted Blake.

Blake moved around but the octostomp was tracking his movements and Blake came very close to getting smashed by the giant octoweapon. "Shit! that was close!" Blake shouted in panic. He decided to stop and lobbed an ink bomb at the creature's legs. The octostomp dropped backwards and was struggling to get back on its feet. The octostomp soon got up and was dazed like it was before exposing the tentacle coming out of its head.

Cuttlefish rushed to the side of it and inked a path like before and swam up to shoot the tentacle. Cuttlefish succeded and the tentacle burst and spewed ink out of it. Just then the hulking beast was toppling over. Cuttlefish squid jumped off the octoweapon. The creature started to fall towards Blake as he was frozen in fear and just slowly backed up and fell as the octostomp landed face down on the on top of him.

"BLAKE!" screamed Mimi as she watched in horror, her boyfriend getting squished by the hulking octoweapon.

Oh no, BUCKO!" shouted Cuttlefish.

* * *

The octolings had been trying to access the computer for hours until they finally got it running. The screen of the console changed and different windows had popped up. It appeared to be information on the domes and rosters of individuals though the octolings couldn't read it.

Each of the domes were different, housing structures to even plant life. The octarians were salvaging as much as they can and fixed anything they could.

The octolings were frustrated that they could not read the language on the screen and moved on. They decided to report back to Octavio and inform him about the computer and being unable to decipher the language.

The information on the screen revealed that the domes were to be a resettling habitation for when the humans returned on the Ark Polaris. Unfortunately, the Ark never made it back and the domes weren't finished. The computer had a roster of all the individuals on the Ark and their personal information. The roster was to give them occupations of what they were to do when they returned. It's a wonder how the computer systems are still working even though they were over 2000 years old.

The octolings made it back to Octavio about the news, but Octavio just shrugged it aside and ordered for the octarians to explore some more and report anything else they may find. the octolings saluted and left.

Octavio then started furthering his work on his big floating DJ booth making more improvements. Octavio after a while stopped and thought about when he, Cuttlefish and Blake were friends. Before the sea waters rose and the war. Octavio shook his head and continued work.

"What's in the past is in the past, I must put my people first," Octavio said to himself.

Octavio grew more callous and oppressive as he focused on his work and the war. Octavio repressed any thoughts of Cuttlefish and Blake as his friends.

After a while Octavio was done and left to meet back with the black tentacled octoling for any assessments on the status of the inklings.

* * *

The camp had gone quiet as the inklings stared at the slain octoweapon that had squashed the human under it. Ammoses was speechless as well as Judd. Mimi had kneeled down balling with tears flowing out of her eyes, "no...no, it can't be...Blake, you can't be gone," cried Mimi. Cuttlefish was punching the octostomp in anguish wishing that it was him that had gotten killed instead of Blake. The inklings were heartbroken with some of them crying over their human savior's death.

Minutes passed and the octostomp started to stir. Its legs were spinning and the crowd backed up fearing the octostomp was not defeated after all. The creature then lifted itself up and tumbled back still dazed from the fall. The octostomp moved away dizzy, trying to get its balance when all of a sudden in the pool of ink it left behind a figure slowly rose up.

"uuuhhh... " the figure moaned. It struggled to wipe it's face off until it revealed to be Blake.

"What? Bucko?" said a shocked Cuttlefish.

"BLAAAKKKE!" shrieked Mimi as she rushed over to him, hugging and squeezing him, making him cough up ink.

The crowd of inklings gathered around in joy to see Blake alive and stunned that he survived getting squished by the giant creature.

Blake pointed at a crevice that he fell in as the octostomp landed on the ground above him.

"Bucko! you're ok! I thought you were a goner!" said Cuttlefish surprised but relieved to see his friend alive.

"I'm fine, but still shooken up, the ink paralyzed me for a moment, but I think it's wearing off," said Blake as he could start to move his body again.

The crowd then turned to the still dazed octostomp stumbling around. "we still have an octoweapon to defeat," said Blake.

"You up to it bucko?" asked Cuttlefish as he turned to Blake in surprise.

"Yeah, let's do this," replied Blake with courage.

"you're not alone! We all got your back!" shouted Mimi with the inklings ready behind her. Cuttlefish and Blake shocked at her confidence. They all turned toward the octostomp.

The octostomp shook its body and finally got its senses back and looked at the crowd and gave a gargled roar. It charged at the inklings as they spread-out avoiding it. Mimi taunted it sticking her tongue out at it, "what? Is that the best you got? can't squish a little squid," teased Mimi as she squid formed away from the octostomp before it fell down.

"you couldn't even squish a puny human like me, some octoweapon you are," jeered Blake at the giant octostomp. It then started to chase him and leaped to squish him, but Blake managed to get out of the way in time.

A couple of inklings threw ink bombs under the beast and it stumbled back and into a building collapsing on the octoweapon. After a moment when the dust settled the debris started to shake as the octostomp got back up and it gave a roar.

It was agitated now. It gave a leap towards the center of the crowd. Mimi froze in fear as she couldn't move or squid form. "Mimi!" yelled Blake as he rushed towards her and grabbed her in the nick of time before the octostomp landed back down.

Blake put Mimi down, "you ok?" he asked her.

"oh, Blake, thank you!" as she hugged his neck.

The octostomp got back up dazed like the other times. Cuttlefish took no time to rush in and ink a path up the creature. He decided to drop an ink bomb in the creature where the tentacle was and squid jumped off before the ink bomb exploded.

The creature stumbled and fell on its face with its legs spinning. It was making all kinds of noise as it was preparing to destruct. "Everyone! get back!" yelled Blake.

The inklings, Blake, and Cuttlefish took cover as they watched the octostomp explode into ink and metal.

The octolings, that had been hiding out of sight, had watched the events transpire and the destruction of the octostomp, they looked in horror and utter shock.

"Th...Th...They destroyed the octostomp! yelled one of the octoling soldiers.

What do we do!" shouted another one.

"We...have to fall back, their's too many of them, plus that human survived and the ink didn't have much effect on him," exclaimed the leader.

"going somewhere?!" a voice in front of them asked as they turned to the figure. It was Blake holding a bamboozler at them as well as Cuttlefish and the rest of the inklings behind him also holding their bamboozlers.

"It's the human, RUN!" shouted the octoling leader.

The octoling detachment ran as fast as they could, even octo forming to get away as the inklings shot at them, splatting some of them as they headed back towards the village.

The inklings cheered in victory, defeating the octostomp and forcing the octolings to retreat. Cuttlefish turned around to see Ammoses picking up a chubby yellow fish out of the wreckage of the octoweapon. It had curled whiskers and was producing electricity. "fascinating," exclaimed Ammoses.

"What is that, Ammoses?" asked Cuttlefish.

"I believe these are zapfish, I've heard about them, but I've never seen one up close," explained Ammoses with the fish squirming in his hands.

"Is that what powered that thing?" asked Cuttlefish.

"yeah, you see zapfish produce electricity, if we had enough zapfish, we could convert the village to electricity and power it," said a joyous Ammoses.

"that's amazing," said Blake. "I wonder where the octarians have been getting them from?" asked Blake.

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure they have more," replied Ammoses.

"Then it's settled, we take back the valley from the octarians in the morning and take the zapfish from those octopi," said Cuttlefish. "but, let's train some more before we head to bed and clean up the camp, we have a rough day ahead of us," exclaimed Cuttlefish.

"you got it, captain!" Blake saluted as he prepared the inklings for battle.

Cuttlefish then turned towards the direction of the village. "I assure you, Octavio, your next and the rest of the octarians," jeered Cuttlefish as he walked back to the camp to help with preparations for the counter-attack in the morning.


	11. Arc 1 Chapter 10

**Arc 1 Chapter 10**

The inklings got ready for the battle ahead of them. They rested for the night with thoughts running through their head worried whether or not if they would take back the valley from the octarians, but two figures were still awake, unable to sleep, pondering about what tomorrow would bring.

Blake was sitting next to the campfire filled with worry. He didn't want to see his friends get killed, but he knew that the inklings needed to take back their homes.

Blake sighed and looked down, uneasy about the situation. Just then a figure caught the corner of his eye walking towards him. It was Cuttlefish, like Blake he couldn't sleep and was also fearful about the coming battle.

"Cuttlefish? I don't you were asleep," asked Blake.

"I couldn't, thinking about tomorrow and the inklings," said Cuttlefish distressed.

"I can understand that. I just...pray for a miracle that everyone will make it through this, Captain," said Blake with his head down.

"well Bucko, all we can do is try, hopefully, all the training will pay off," says Cuttlefish to lighten the mood.

"yeah...but, I'm worried for Mimi, she's a sweet girl and I hate that she's getting dragged into this," said Blake sadly as he sighed.

"the lass is braver than you think, she's a pretty good soldier and I'm sure she'll hold her own in battle...speaking of battles," Cuttlefish smirked as he spotted the bite mark on Blake's neck.

"look's like someone's got a battle scar already," said cuttlefish still smirking.

"huh? what are you talking about?" asked Blake confused as Cuttlefish motioned as his neck.

"oh...yeah, something bit me when me and Mimi slept at... wait, you mean to tell me that was Mimi!" said a stunned Blake.

"what else could it be bucko, the lass really likes you," chuckled Cuttlefish.

"wait, Cuttlefish! this happened in my sleep, we didn't..." explained Blake as he was cut off.

"just messin' with ya' bucko! But the lass does like you," said Cuttlefish trying to compose himself.

A moment passed as Cuttlefish and Blake remained silent for a little bit.

"Not to change the subject captain, but back to the matters ahead, I...wanna leave and head back to the village to talk some sense into Octavio," said Blake.

"Bucko! you can't be serious! He drove us away from our homes, attacked us, and sent that octoweapon after us! and you wanna reason with him!" said an irate Cuttlefish utterly angry and shocked by Blake's decision.

"Cuttlefish! I know! but... I don't wanna see any more inklings get killed," said a stressed Blake.

"Blake you know he's set in his ways, he won't stop until were either caught or killed," said a cuttlefish as his anger started to resolve.

"I have to try, captain," said Blake as he looked Cuttlefish in the eye.

"Bucko, just think on it before making a rash decision, I just don't want nothing to happen to you, knowing that you've been helping the inklings, he may capture you or even have you executed," exclaimed Cuttlefish fretting over Blake's idea.

"your...right captain, I just... (sigh) wish there was another way," said a saddened Blake.

"I know, bucko...just head to bed and get some rest for tomorrow, your gonna need it," recommended Cuttlefish with his hand on Blake's shoulder.

"Alright...good night, captain," said Blake as he yawned and left for bed.

When Blake walked inside his tent, he saw that Mimi was awake looking at him with deep concern. He looked at her and sighed, then laid down on the sleeping pad with Mimi.

"I know a lot has been running through your head about tomorrow and the fate of the inklings as well as mine, I just want you to know...that I'm here for you and the captain and that a have faith that we'll beat those octarians and take back our home," said Mimi with confidence.

She started to lean in on Blake and looked him in the eyes.

"And I know after we defeat Octavio, maybe we can...start...a family," said Mimi meekly.

Blake was unsure how to respond to Mimi's insinuation, never thinking of even getting in a relationship with an inkling more less starting a family with one.

"Mimi I..." was all Blake could get out before Mimi kissed him. Blake didn't resist as she embraced him forcing him back down on the mat. She had one thing on her mind before the battle tomorrow and she was determined to show how much she loved her human lover.

She was on top of him kissing his neck while holding his arms, after a while, she sat up and started to disrobe, but conflicting thoughts were running Blake's mind. After a moment he sighed and stopped her.

"Blake what's wrong?" asked Mimi as her robe was halfway off.

"It's just, not right now...I wanna wait until after the battle...and plus I don't wanna wake the whole camp up with all the noises," said Blake hiding his blush.

"Oh, It's just...you're right, that would be embarrassing...and I guess we would have to explain," said Mimi also hiding her blush and rubbing her tentacles.

"We need to rest for tomorrow," said Blake.

The two of them decided to hold off on their escapade until the war was over. The both of them fell asleep, hugging each other hoping they survive the coming battle with Octavio and the Octolings.

* * *

The octoling detachment made it back to the village without the giant octoweapon in tow. The black tentacled octoling approached them sternly and demanded, "Report! Where are the inklings and where is the octostomp that was assigned to you! Explain yourselves!"

"Ma'am! the inklings have rearmed themselves, Cuttlefish has reorganized the squidbeak and they took down the octostomp, even the human survived the attack!" exclaimed the octoling leader.

"What!" shouted the black tentacled octoling.

"Yes! We even lost some of our troops to fire! We had bo choice but to retreat, there were too many of them!" said one of the octolings.

"You didn't stay and fight! I should splat you myself! Now the inklings will think we'll be easy pickings!" scolded the black tentacled octoling.

The octolings looked down in defeat. "Get out of my sight! before I have you all executed!" demanded the black tentacled octoling.

The octolings hastily left before she changed her mind. "This is startling news, I must report this Octavio," muttered the black tentacle octoling as she headed to see Octavio.

Octavio was making his way back to the village to find out about the inklings, he was approached by the black tentacled octoling as she saluted.

"Sir! I have disturbing news, the inklings appeared to have reorganized and rearmed themselves, they managed to take down the octostomp and splatted some of the octoling detachment you sent to apprehend them," said the octoling.

"That is not what I wanted to hear soldier, gather the troops and prepare to move them out. I've had enough of these inkstains, splat them all if you must and don't forget to use the octobombers, that hipster Cuttlefish has been a thorn in my tentacle for the last time," commanded an agitated Octavio.

"if you should fail, then I'll be sure that you get splatted like those inkstains!" roared Octavio put his face in front of the black-headed octoling.

"y...y...yes, sir" the octoling replied as she shook.

Octavio then headed back to his base to get the preparations of his DJ booth ready. He expected the inklings to push there way back into the valley to reclaim their homeland. Octavio readied the DJ booth and prepared the troops that he held back at the octarian base and the domes, Octavio intended to use them as reinforcements for when the inklings attempted to retake the village or if there was an uprising when the inklings were put into labor.

* * *

Cuttlefish, Blake, and the inklings made their way through the valley towards the village. They were walking in a forest near the farmlands of the valley. The inklings were spread out keeping a lookout for any octarians. Cuttlefish and Blake took the lead watching the front of them and the sky above them for any air threats.

"Keep your eyes peeled squids! We'll be arriving at the village in a couple of hours," said Cuttlefish still being cautious.

minutes passed as they almost reached the farms. They could see the edge of the forest ahead of them as the sunlight beamed through.

As they got closer, Cuttlefish could hear movement ahead of them in the forest around. "hold up! I hear something!" said cuttlefish as he signaled the inklings to stop.

"what is it captain?" asked Blake. The two paused to listen as things got still for a moment.

Suddenly a shot of ink streaked toward one of the inklings and splattered him on impact. The inklings went into the shock seeing one their own burst into ink.

"Ambush!" yelled Cuttlefish as octotroopers and octoling grunts popped out behind trees and bushes as the shot at the inklings.

A few more inklings got splattered during the skirmish. others dove for cover and returned fire. The skirmish lasted for minutes as octarians and octolings were also picked off at every given opportunity. One of the inklings threw an ink bomb at a group of octarians on platforms as they moved in on their position. They were splattered instantly in a burst of ink.

Blake and Cuttlefish returned fire towards the octoling grunts trying to pin them down. Cuttlefish managed to drop three of them while Blake managed to drop two with the third evading the fire and taking cover behind a tree. The octarian turned to the side of his cover and saw a window of opportunity, and shot Blake in the arm when he popped out of cover.

"Bucko!" yelled Cuttlefish as he gritted his teeth and took out the octoling that shot at his friend.

Cuttlefish rushed over in squid form evading enemy ink to check on Blake. He saw him sitting up behind a tree clutching his arm. "man that stings!" said Blake as he was in pain.

"Blake, thank god, you're ok," said Cuttlefish with relief.

"yeah...I'm fine...but my arm is numb, I'm not...sure I can fight for a little while though... dammit this hurts," said Blake trying to get his words out while clinching in pain.

"Bucko, you stay here, I'll get help as soon as we thin out the octarians," said Cuttlefish heading back to get a good vantage point on the enemy.

ten more minutes pass as the last remaining octarians are finally killed with the cost of eight inklings killed in action. When the coast was clear and the battle finally ended, the inklings gathered up the wounded to be treated. Cuttlefish escorted Blake over to where the inklings were getting tended to. Mimi rushed over to see that Blake had gotten hit in the arm.

"Blake! Are you ok!" shouted Mimi in concern.

"Yeah...I'm fine Mimi, just hit in the arm is all," said Blake trying to calm her.

"You're lucky Blake, that you didn't take a hit to the head, those ink guns like our bamboozlers shoot ink at a high velocity, It can immobilize you since your a human which the ink has some effect on, but a headshot wound could cause brain damage or even kill you at a close enough distance," explained Ammoses with concern.

"Good to know, I'll be careful next time," said Blake.

Mimi started to treat Blake's arm and wrapped it up.

Cuttlefish was stuck in thought think seeing, he almost lost his friend and battle buddy twice now. Cuttlefish sighed and walked away with conflictions running through his mind. Blake and the others looked at him with confusion and concern.

Moments later Cuttlefish was sitting on a log deep in thought when he heard footsteps approach him. As a reflex, he jumped up and he picked up his bamboozler and aimed at the direction of the sound. He saw a figure appear, it was Blake. "Bucko?... I almost shot you! what are you doing out here?" questioned a stressed Cuttlefish as he laid the bamboozler down

"I came to check on you, captain, I saw you walk away and me and the others were concerned," explained Blake in a soft voice.

Cuttlefish gave a long sigh and sat back on the log with his head facing the ground. "Blake I... just don't want to lose another friend," was all that Cuttlefish could say.

Blake stepped up and sat on the opposite end of the log trying to console Cuttlefish. "Captain, you know as well as I do, that It wasn't your fault back in the village when you confronted Octavio," said Blake.

"I know lad, I just... don't want to see you die, you're the only true friend I've got," said Cuttlefish as he turned to Blake with tears starting to form.

Blake looked at Cuttlefish and downed his head unsure what else to say. A minute passes and Cuttlefish finally spoke up.

"Blake?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Yeah?" responded Blake.

"You don't have to fight, you don't have to be a squidbeak agent...you can leave, go find you're family Blake, this isn't your battle," said Cuttlefish with his head turned away.

"But Captain I..." responded Blake as he was cut off.

"THAT'S AN ORDER DAMMIT! I WON'T LET ANYONE I CARE ABOUT DIE UNDER MY WATCH, SO...GET OUT OF HERE!" screamed Cuttlefish as tears were flowing from his eyes.

Cuttlefish sat back down with his back turned away from Blake. Blake was utterly speechless and conflicted by Cuttlefish's disposition and command. After a few seconds, Blake meekly approached Cuttlefish wanting to say something. Blake went to place his hand only to stop himself and just close his hand clenching it and turned his head away from Cuttlefish. He laid his Bamboozler against the log next to Cuttlefish and walked away leaving him and the inklings.

* * *

An octoling was talking to the black tentacled octoling back at the base. "Ma'am, we haven't heard from the unit that was tasked to intercept the inklings near the farmlands," reported the octoling grunt.

"We can only assume the inklings have broken through our lines and are advancing towards the village, we'll fortify the village and try to slow them down, use the octobombers if they get too close, I'll be sure to inform Octavio, permission to leave soldier," said the black-headed octoling.

"Yes, Ma'am," saluted the octoling as he left.

"Let's hope that we'll stop them, but if not, I wanna be sure that Octavio can spare some reinforcements," said the black tentacled octoling to herself.

She made her way deeper in the base to find Octavio while the octarian forces constructed fortifications and obstructions to stop the inklings from reaching the village.

After hearing about the Octostomp being defeated, it seemed futile to send another octoweapon to go fight off Blake and the inklings.

Octavio was watching the octarian army march toward the valley from the underground base still awaiting any reports from the underground domes. "(sigh) so, that human survived the octostomp, I'll have to devise a plan to deal with him. I can only assume Cuttlefish is leading the inklings back to the valley to retake their village," said Octavio as he closed his eyes and got stuck in thought.

After a moment the black tentacled octoling approached him. "Sir! The inklings have pushed through our forces in the forest, they're heading this way!" reported the black-tentacled octoling.

"Hmpf, expected, I'd knew as much knowing Cuttlefish. Rally up the troops and let the village defenses know the inklings are pushing to their direction," ordered Octavio.

"Yes, sir! I'll let them know immediately," saluted the black-tentacled octoling.

Octavio looked at the octoling as she walked away. Thoughts were running through his head remembering the times when He, Blake and Cuttlefish were friends. He pulled out an old photo of the three of them with Cuttlefish flashing a peace signal with his hand. All three of them were smiling with Octavio giving an awkward smile feeling embarrassed by the situation.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the forest the inklings gathering their stuff and preparing to move out and head towards the village.

"Where's Cuttlefish and Blake?" asked Mimi.

"Well Cuttlefish still hasn't made it back and I'm not sure where Blake ran off to," said Ammoses.

"Well we need to keep moving," said a male inkling.

After a moment passed they saw a figure come from out of the woods. It was Cuttlefish carrying Blake's bamboozler with him.

"Cuttlefish, there you are...wait have you seen Blake?" asked Mimi with concern.

"He's...gone," answered Cuttlefish sadly with his head down.

"Gone!, but...why?" asked Ammoses who was stunned.

"I told him to," answered Cuttlefish. As he handed Blake's Bamboozler to Mimi.

"Cuttlefish, why would you do that?" asked Mimi in a distressed tone.

Cuttlefish didn't answer and turned and walked toward the edge of the forest towards the farmlands. "Let's get a move on squids," he said in an emotionless tone.

Ammoses, Mimi and a group of inklings just looked at each unsure how to make of the situation.

"what do we do now?" asked Mimi upset that her boyfriend had left them.

Ammoses thought and looked back at Mimi, "Mimi, you have to go find Blake," said Ammoses.

"But, I... what about you guys?" said Mimi in distress.

"There's no time Mimi, go find Blake...I'll take his bamboozler," said Ammoses.

"But, Ammoses...I don't know where he could've gone off to," exclaimed Mimi.

"Mimi I don't think he could've gotten far, plus I heard you marked him the night y'all were gone," smirked Ammoses.

"yeah...uh...what about it," said an embarrassed Mimi hiding her blush.

"Ummm... you inklings put out a pheromone on your mates when you mark them don't you?" questioned Ammoses.

"Ooohhh... right, I should've known that, duuuhhh," said Mimi smacking herself.

Ammoses face-palmed and gave a sigh. "well, you better find him soon, catch up with us when you do." said Ammoses.

"Right, I'll find him, don't you worry," said Mimi confidently as she left, tracking the scent of the pheromone back to Blake.

"Uuhh... that squid," said Ammoses shaking his head. he soon turned his head back to the direction of Cuttlefish and sighed.

He slung Blake's bamboozler and an ink tank on his back and walked with the inklings to take back the valley.


	12. Arc 1 Chapter 11

**Arc 1 Chapter 11**

waves of ocean water could be heard, splashing and flowing onto and off the beach. The sound of seagulls, calling and flying overhead looking for food. The scene was that of a beach, it was calm and tranquil, it made you feel as if all the worries of the world could disappear.

A figure could be seen laying on the beach. They soon start to open their eyes and slowly sat up, looking around at the scenery. After a moment they got up off the sand and brushed themselves off.

The figure stepped closer towards the water until the waves could hit their feet and stared out towards the horizon.

The figure gave a sigh. "I guess the dreams have stopped coming, the images are unclear now, I can't make nothing out anymore...does it have something to do with leaving Cuttlefish and the inklings," said the figure.

It was no other than Blake. Who left Cuttlefish and the others hours ago, to look for any clues about the whereabouts of his family that he had been seeing in his dreams. Blake was conflicted, he didn't want to leave Cuttlefish, but he felt that maybe it was for the best and sometimes he wishes he was never found in that beached pod from two years ago.

Blake soon turned and walked further back on the beach and sat back down. He was unsure what to do and saw no signs of his family or anything. He laid back spread across the sun-baked sand and thought to himself.

"come on, give me some kind of hint or clue, where could they be?" asked Blake to himself smacking his head.

Minutes passed as he still laid there when he heard leaves rustling behind him towards the forest. Blake stood back up and shouted, "who's there?!".

The rustling was getting closer as Blake anxiously waited for whoever it was to jump out. Blake was on guard, preparing to fight or not.

The figure finally emerged and Blake was in disbelief. It was Mimi.

"Mimi? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" asked Blake in surprise.

"The pheromones from the bite I gave you, squids can track their mates like that, just in case they got into danger," explained Mimi slightly pink.

"oh...well, you shouldn't be here, you should be with others," said Blake after he rubbed his neck.

"Blake, we need you to come back, Cuttlefish, Ammoses, the inklings, and...me," replied Mimi.

"Mimi... I can't, Cuttlefish said..." explained Blake while his head was down as he was cut off.

"I don't care what Cuttlefish said! Your agent zero, a squidbeak and you've managed to get us to safety and protected us from the octarians. Squidbeaks make a vow to protect all inklings and the valley," said Mimi trying to convince Blake.

Blake downed and turned his head unsure what to say.

"I love you Blake and I want to fight alongside you to take back our home. Do you remember what I said back at the camp when the war was over?" asked Mimi.

Blake looked back up towards Mimi and nodded.

"You might not find your family Blake, but...you can start a new one," said Mimi as she stepped closer to Blake until she was face to face with him. Before Blake could give a response, Mimi grabbed Blake's head and pulled it to hers, locking lips. Mimi leaned over and knocked themselves back onto the sand still lip-locked. This went one several seconds, until they pulled apart. Mimi looked at Blake with a compassionate expression.

"I love you, Blake, please come back," pleaded Mimi with affectionate eyes.

A smile appeared on Blake's face as he looked at his inkling girlfriend. "I love you too, Mimi," said Blake as he reached over and gave her kiss and said "I'll come back,"

* * *

Cuttlefish, Ammoses and the inklings made it pass the farmlands and were on the outskirts of the village. Thye scanned and saw that the octarians were setting up defenses around the village to impede them.

"Alright, we'll have to find a way around those fortifications, I want a handful of inklings to be scouts and find a way in," said Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish picked four inklings and ordered them to sneak towards the village and find a way past the octarian defenses and give the signal when they do.

The inkling scouts left and Cuttlefish turned to the rest of the inklings. "Alright, squidbeak!, when our scouts find a way in, we'll catch those octopi by surprise and take back our home!" shouted Cuttlefish with the inklings cheering.

Ammoses was stuck in thought after they cheered and hoped that Mimi would find Blake and that they would get back soon.

The scouts managed to sneak past some of the fortifications in squid form slithering around on the ground evading the octarians as the went. They spotted an opening that was guarded by a handful of octotroopers with an octocopter flying overhead. An octosniper was also spotted on a tall platform overlooking the area.

"what do we do?" asked a female inkling.

"I say we go behind them and splat them with their backs turned!" insisted a male inkling.

"what about that little flying tentacle and that big one perched on that tower, you dumb squid, we'll give ourselves away!" scolded another female inkling to the male.

"I say one inkling needs to make their way up the tower and splat the big tentacle, while another shoots down the flying one when they aren't looking. Me and the last squid will take the rest of the ones on the ground after those two are dealt with," said another male inkling.

"Okay," agreed the three other inklings.

One inkling shot ink up the tower to swim up and shoot the octosniper from behind. It was splatted first.

Another inkling got to a good vantage point behind some cover and shot the octocopter down before it noticed that the octosniper was gone.

The other two inklings squid formed and snuck behind the octotroopers positions and ambushed them splatting them one by one before an alarm could go off.

The inkling scouts regrouped and cheered themselves and moved up to make sure there weren't anymore octarians that had to be dealt with. After deciding that it was clear enough the scouts gave the signal and Cuttlefish, Ammoses and the rest of the inklings made their way to the scouts, then into the village.

As they pushed through they soon stumbled across octarian forces taking positions among the buildings. The inklings hunted for cover and fired upon the octarians. The octarians fired back taking hits as well as some of the inklings. The inklings squid jumped on the roof of buildings to gain the high ground while others squid formed and slithered from cover to cover sneak past the attacking octarians. The engagement ensued for minutes before it was over with the octarians defeated with some taking casualties.

Cuttlefish ordered the inklings to push on until they reached the village's council hall where the inkling council governed the valley and the inklings. The building was unoccupied and the inklings decided to take a quick rest before fighting anymore octarians.

A figure was peeking behind the corner of a building and watched the inklings go into the council hall. The figure sneered and said "good, they've fallen for our trap,". The figure was the black-headed octoling with a large unit of octarians around the corner.

She turned to them and ordered," they've entered the building, we have them right where we want them, now surround the building! Don't let a single inkling get away!"

* * *

Blake and Mimi were running through the farmlands towards the village hoping they could get to Cuttlefish and the others without stumbling across any octarians. So far they didn't see any and they managed to reach the outskirts of the village. They spotted fortifications that the octarians built and scanned to see if there was a weak point somewhere. They spotted the area where Cuttlefish and the inklings went through with no octarians around.

"There! Let's go before any octarians show up," Blake told Mimi as she nodded.

Blake and Mimi made their way to the opening, only to be ambushed by some octolings.

Blake and Mimi hunt for cover, but Blake is hit in the leg by some ink.

"Blake!" shouts Mimi as she picks her bamboozler up and shoots the octoling that hit Blake.

Blake crawls to cover while being gunned down by the octolings. Mimi shoots at whatever octoling she could hit. She manages to splat two more octolings, when all of a sudden she is shot in the shoulder and falls backyards.

"Mimi! Bastards!" yelled Blake. He rushes over evading ink from the octolings to check on Mimi.

"Mimi! Are you Ok!" shouted a very concerned Blake. All Mimi could do was mumble with her eyes closed.

"No, Mimi!" said Blake as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He pickup Mimi's bamboozler and ink tank and aimed towards the octolings.

"You're gonna pay for that!" shouted an enraged Blake shooting the octolings until there were none left.

Blake gave a deep sigh and turned back to Mimi. Mimi slowly opened her eyes and looked at Blake. "Blake?" she said.

"Mimi, I'm gonna get you to Cuttlefish as soon as I can," exclaimed Blake as he picked her up bridal style and continued on to the village.

The two of them reached the garden and Blake laid Mimi down in the tea house in the center of the garden. Blake wiped what ink he could off her and bandaged her shoulder.

"Mimi, I'm gonna see if I can find Cuttlefish and the inklings, I don't want to have to carry you and run into any octarians, I'm gonna leave you here, I'll be back," said Blake while grabbing her hand that was laying on her chest. Blake let go even though Mimi didn't, who wanted him to stay.

Mimi tried to reach her arm over to him as he closed the door behind him. "B...Be...careful, Blake," she said weakly before she closed her eyes.

* * *

Cuttlefish, Ammoses and the inklings found themselves defending the Alamo. Octarians had surrounded the council hall and made attempts to breach the inside only to be splattered at any attempt at the doorways. Inklings sniped at any exposed octarians they saw and threw ink bombs at any that made a rush towards the building. This went on for a while now, and the inklings weren't able to fill their ink tanks between shots. Cuttlefish was soon accepting that this may be their last stand and prayed for a better outcome.

Cuttlefish almost got hit by an octosniper perched on top of a roof of a building overlooking the council hall. The octarians were overwhelming the inklings and he ordered the inklings to pull back further into the building as one last stand.

As the inklings made their way to the main hall in the center of the building they set up defensive positions, they heard fire coming from the direction of the main entrance. Then silence for a moment. they heard footsteps rushing towards the doorway of the main hall they were in. The inklings pointed their weapons at the doorway and prepared for the octarians to breach. All of a sudden the doors were kicked open and an ink-covered figure stumbled in front of them.

"Hold your fire! That's...Blake?!" yelled Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish, Ammoses and the inklings were utterly stunned that it was Blake. As Blake was about to collapse, Cuttlefish rushed over and caught him before he could hit the floor.

"Bucko?... What, are you doing here?" asked a shocked Cuttlefish.

"Is that...anyway to...thank me for saving your squid butt," said Blake getting his words out.

"hmpf...talk about me not changing, I'm glad to see you, bucko," said Cuttlefish as he stood Blake up and hugged him.

"I'm fine Cuttlefish, but Mimi took a hit on our way here and she needs medical attention now!" exclaimed Blake.

"Where is she lad?" asked Cuttlefish.

"I left her at the garden in the tea house, we need to hurry!" exclaimed Blake.

"Blake, Me and a couple of inklings will go treat her, You and Cuttlefish go get Octavio, she'll be fine, I promise, oh and I think this belongs to you," said Ammoses as he handed Blake's bamboozler and ink tank back to him.

Blake took his Bamboozler and tank back and handed Mimi's back to Ammoses. "then here, take Mimi's Bamboozler and tank back to her," said Blake as he handed over Mimi's weapon and tank over to Ammoses.

Ammoses nodded as he and some inklings left the hall and made their way to the garden.

Blake looked at Cuttlefish. "we'll, I guess its time to end this," said Blake.

"yeah, Octavio has a lot to answer to, let's do this," said Cuttlefish as him, Blake and the remaining inklings left the council hall and towards the octarian's base.

* * *

At the octarian base Octavio is going over plans about the domes and the valley to the octarians, when all of a sudden the main doors burst open and a black tentacled octoling covered in some ink, stumbled clutching her shoulder as she made her way in front of Octavio falling down.

"What happened! Report soldier!" demanded Octavio.

"Sir! We had the inklings surrounded and near defeat when... that inkling-loving human flanked us before we could storm the building... and finish off those inkstains," explained the black-headed octoling clenching in pain.

"You have failed me yet again! I should toss you into the sea and watch you dissolve!" roared Octavio.

"Sir, forgive me! I..." she pleaded as Octavio waved her off.

"You have one more chance to redeem yourself! Now, take some of the octarian reinforcements with you and stop Cuttlefish and the inklings from reaching our base! Now go!" ordered Octavio.

"Ye...ye...yes, Sir, I won't fail!" the octoling saluted and hurried out.

The black tentacled octoling gathered up the octarians and left to fight the inklings before they reached the base.

After they left. Octavio was brooding, frustrated by Cuttlefish, the inklings and Blake.

"Our ink may not be effective on you, but I have something in store for you Blake," said Octavio as he peered at the cryostasis pod that Blake was found in by him and Cuttlefish two years ago. "It's time for you to stay extinct, human" jeered Octavio as he looked at the pod.

* * *

Cuttlefish, Blake and the inklings slowly made their way to the octarian base which was located underneath Octavio's house. minutes passed and they finally arrived in front of it and stopped, preparing to face Octavio.

"Alright squids! Let's Go!" shouted Cuttlefish

As they stepped forward. Octarians popped up from around them behind trees and bushes. The front doors of Octavio's slid open and a squad of octolings led by the black tentacled octoling came out and faced the inklings and human.

"This is your last chance to surrender! now drop your weapons or we will shoot you where you stand!" commanded the black-headed octoling.

"Well, what do we do now, captain?" whispered Blake.

"I'm not sure bucko, they got us surrounded, I can only pray for a miracle," whispered Cuttlefish.

"you have three seconds to comply!" shouted the black-headed octoling.

"I think I have a plan," whisper Blake.

Blake approached the black tentacled octoling while her guards aim their weapons at him. "We, surrender!" shouted Blake.

"What? Bucko?" quietly shouted Cuttlefish surprised at Blake.

"Just follow my lead," whispered Blake as he turned is head to Cuttlefish and winked.

"I hope you know what you're doing, lad" whispered Cuttlefish as he laid his bamboozler down.

The other inklings soon followed suit and laid their weapons down with their hands up.

the octoling guards started to walk towards the inklings but were halted by the black-headed octoling. "wait! this may be a trap! be on your toes with your weapons up!" advised the octoling.

Just as the octolings go closer. Cuttlefish noticed an ink-bomb under Blake's ink tank. It dawned on him what Blake was going to do.

Just then Blake reached behind his back and lobbed the ink-bomb towards the black tentacled octoling. she managed to octo jump back, but some of her guards weren't so lucky.

Blake grabbed the closest octoling near him and fought for their weapon until he turned behind them and grabbed their arm and guided them shooting their ink gun at the remaining octolings in front of them. He hit the octoling behind the head he had a hold of and knocked him down retrieving its ink gun.

The inklings took no time to snatch up their bamboozlers and fire at the stunned octarians. The small skirmish lasted for minutes with both sides exchanging fire and taking casualties.

Blake noticed that the black-headed octoling disappeared during the may lay. Then all of a sudden he heard a whoosh and she landed behind Cuttlefish with malice in her eyes.

"I won't let you get away this time, inkstain!" yelled the black tentacled octoling as she pointed her ink gun at him.

Cuttlefish turned towards her and froze. "Captain!" shouted Blake as he lined a shot on the octoling.

"Any last words, squid?!" she sneered.

All of a sudden before she could pull the trigger, she burst into ink.

Cuttlefish shielded himself with his arm and looked, then turned toward Blake. Blake shook his head to signal Cuttlefish that it wasn't him that splatted the octoling.

Cuttlefish then turned and looked in the opposite direction and saw an orange tentacled female holding a bamboozler up one armed with the other arm in a sling.

Blake turned and looked. His eyes went big. "Mimi?!" he exclaimed and rushed over to hug her.

"Mimi, I'm so glad to see your ok," said Blake in joy.

"I'm glad to see you too, Blake, Ammoses told me everything and we made it back here as fast as we could," said Mimi.

"Lass!, you saved my tentacles," said a grateful Cuttlefish

"It's no problem Cuttlefish, As long as you and Blake are ok," said Mimi. Blake kissed her on the head and she giggled hugging Blake.

"Well, Bucko I hate to break up your little reunion with the lass, but we have a war to end," said Cuttlefish.

"quite right, captain," said Blake as he and Mimi exchanged kisses and he and Cuttlefish made their way to the base.

"Good Luck you two!" shouted Ammoses as he and Mimi waved.

Ammoses, Mimi and the inklings stayed back to ensure that the octarians didn't retaliate and Cuttlefish and Blake could defeat Octavio.

Blake and Cuttlefish make it inside Octavio's and Blake guided Cuttlefish to the hatch that would take them down to the underground base.

Blake and Cuttlefish kneeled down and opened the hatch.

"You ready to do this, Bucko?" asked Cuttlefish seriously.

"I'm ready, Captain, let's go get Octavio!" shouted Blake as they both made there way down the hatch, ready to fight the Octarian leader and their former friend.


	13. Arc 1 Chapter 12

**Arc 1 Chapter 12**

Blake and Cuttlefish made it down the hatch. It was dark with light emanating from the end of the corridor. The two them make at the end and look around inside the base. It was vacant, not one octoling was standing guard. Blake and Cuttlefish continue on scanning the area unsure why there wasn't any octarians anywhere.

"Where are they?" asked Blake.

"I'm not sure, something isn't right, you'd think Octavio and the rest of his army would be here," said Cuttlefish baffled.

"let's keep going, captain," said Blake.

They spotted more octoweapons that haven't been activated, one of them looked like a giant metal fish with sharp teeth. As they walked by it, two lights came on behind the mesh screen that was its face. The fish jerked and opened it's mouth and shut it. It spotted Blake and Cuttlefish walking past it as it locked on to its prey. It clattered a sit moved behind them.

"What's that sound?" asked Blake.

"I don't know but...BUCKO! LOOK OUT!" shouted Cuttlefish as he grabbed Blake to dodge the giant octoweapon jaws. It came close to snare Blake and eating him as it slammed against the floor.

"That was close! I owe you captain!" exclaimed Blake gratefully.

"Think nothing of it Bucko!" replied Cuttlefish.

The octoweapon shook and glared back at Blake and Cuttlefish.

"I guess we're going to have to beat this thing," said Blake clutching his bamboozler.

"You go for the right! I'll go for the left!" ordered Cuttlefish.

"Got it!" shouted Blake.

The two of them shot at the giant metallic fish as it flopped up and screeched. It coated the floor in octarian ink and sank in. "Watch out Bucko! I don't know what it's up to," said Cuttlefish.

After a moment its teeth appeared around Cuttlefish. The teeth soon closed up with Cuttlefish snared by the creature's jaws. "CAPTAIN!" yelled Blake as she shot at the octoweapon's head. "No! Captain!" shouted Blake again as the octoweapon turned its sights on him.

The octoweapon froze just as it was about to attack Blake. Inside its mouth Cuttlefish shot some of the teeth out reveal that he wasn't swallowed by the creature. "Look out Bucko! I'm about to give this thing a bad case of indigestion!" shouted Cuttlefish shooting at the creature's mouth. A tentacle popped out of its throat and the captain took this opportunity to lob an ink bomb in it.

The captain squid formed and jumped out of the giant fish's mouth before the ink bomb exploded. This caused the octoweapon to jerk around and start violently hissing. It soon exploded into a pile of metal with a zapfish inside flopping around in the ink puddle it left behind.

Cuttlefish landed down and Blake rushed over towards him. "Captain that was amazing!" shouted Blake.

"That thing was pretty easy to beat! Well, I guess that means theirs more of them zapfish around. Let's hurry and keep going. He gotta still stop Octavio and his plans," said Cuttlefish.

The two of them pushed further in the base until they came across some octotroopers and octolings with them. Blake and Cuttlefish hid behind some crates on each side of the room. They appeared to be guarding the inner portion of the base as Cuttlefish and Blake pondered on how to get past them.

"We may have to shoot our way through, Bucko," said Cuttlefish.

"you may be right, captain," said Blake as he looked back at the octarians.

Just then the base started to shake and the octarians fled, opening the large doors and entering inside shutting doors behind them. "What's going! Is this an earthquake!" shouted Blake.

"I don't know! But let's get to those doors before the ceiling falls on us!," shouted Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish and Blake were struggling to stay on their feet as the base shook violently. The two them rushed to the large doors, but they couldn't get them to open.

"Come On! Open!" shouted Blake as he banged on the large doors.

"Bucko, we have to get out of here, Let's get back to the hatch!" shouted Cuttlefish as he grabbed Blake's arm.

Blake and Cuttlefish rush back to the hatch and ran outside of Octavio's. They met back with Ammoses and the others who were also clueless about the tremors and were struggling to stand themselves. Ammoses and Mimi rushed over to Blake and Cuttlefish and informed them of what was happening topside.

* * *

Half an hour earlier, after Cuttlefish and Blake made their way down to the octarian base. Mimi, Ammoses, and the inklings stayed on the surface to watch for any octarian activity. ten minutes pass a platoon of octolings appraoch Octavio's from the village in attempt to recapture it and take it from the inklings. "Heads up, octolings approaching!" shouted one of the inklings.

"prepare to fight! We have to hold out for Blake and Cuttlefish!" shouted Mimi.

The octolings started firing as soon as they got in range. The inklings fired back splatting some of them. Mimi and Ammoses took cover while the inklings defended Octavio's.

"Send in the Octopods!" shouted one of the octolings before getting splatted.

"Octopods?" asked Ammoses.

Just then, these metal-like creatures shaped like torpedoes with legs ran toward the inklings. "What are those things!" shrieked Mimi.

"I don't know but shoot em' " shouted another inkling. One of the Octopods rushed toward one of the inklings and detonated when it was close enough. It exploded causing it and inkling to burst into ink.

"Oh no! Don't let them get close to you!" shouted Mimi as she aimed at one of the octopods running towards them. It detonated prematurely after taking enough shots. The rest of the octopods were eventually destroyed and the remaining octolings retreated toward the village.

"Yeah! You better run!" shouted a cocky inkling waving his bamboozler.

"Don't get cocky! I'm sure they'll be sending reinforcements!" shouted Ammoses.

Another 10 minutes pass as the inklings were guarding the area getting ready for any retaliationfrom the octarians, they noticed octobombers flying overhead. "Octobombers!" shouted an inkling. "Take cover!" said another one. The octobombers kept going not paying the inklings any mind.

"Wait...surely they would have seen us," said Mimi confused.

"I'm not sure, something's up," said Ammoses wearily.

All of a sudden the ground started to shake and inklings were starting to panic.

"Ammoses, what's going!" said Mimi trying to keep her balance.

"I don't know! Cuttlefish and Blake need to get back here right away!" exclaimed Ammoses.

After a moment a large aura of light burst from the octarians side of the valley and the trembling continued. The inklings weren't sure what to make of the phenomenon as they stared, wondering what It was. Then Blake and Cuttlefish run out of Octavio's to be met by Mimi and Ammoses.

Mimi and Ammoses explain to Cuttlefish and Blake about the octobombers and the strange source of light they witnessed not too long ago coming out of the octarian territory.

"We need to investigate, let's head over towards the octarian territory now, there's no bit of telling what Octavio is up to," commanded Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish, Blake, and everyone else hurried to Octarian territory as fast as they could.

They reached a hill that overlooked the octarian's side of the valley and was jaw-dropped at what they were seeing. "What the!" was all Blake could get out.

* * *

Octavio made his way back to the domes. Once inside he made his way to a large chamber occupied by octarian forces that were all huddled around a giant circular pad with computer consoles surrounding it. A moment passes and the large pad opens up revealing a giant cat-fish like creature with curled whiskers emitting sparks of electricity. Octavio walks toward the giant electric fish.

Octavio observes the creature for a few seconds and turns toward one the octolings manning a computer console.

"commence the operation, unleash the giant zapfish's energy at full power," ordered Octavio. The octoling complied and pushed a button.

The machine hummed as the giant zapfish was lifted up in an orb putting off a yellow glow. The ceiling of the chamber opened up as the giant fish ascended further and further up. Soon the giant zapfish emitted one strong discharge that lit up the octarian's side of the valley. The ground was shaking and breaking apart, then the octarian's territory split away from the rest of the valley and floated upward.

"Good, those machines in the domes are suspending our side of the valley thanks to the power being produced by the giant zapfish we captured," said Octavio.

The octarian side of the valley was floating and was slowly creeping above the inkling territory. Blake, Cuttlefish, and the others were utterly flabbergasted at the sight of the large floating landmass. Just then a piece of land was floating above as Blake noticed it.

"Captain! isn't that your cabin on the chunk of flying rock?!" exclaimed Blake in shock.

"It sure is! Why is flying away!" said a shocked Cuttlefish.

"I don't know! But how are we going to get to it!" asked Blake.

Cuttlefish bent over and squid formed. "Blake! grab my tentacle and hold on!" commanded Cuttlefish as he jumped on Blake's head.

"What?!" shouted Blake before he was pulled by Cuttlefish during the squid jump and getting covered in Cuttlefish's ink.

Cuttlefish and Blake manage to land on the floating chunk of land before they got out of range. Blake was blinded by Cuttlefish's ink and stumbled backward toward the ledge before Cuttlefish grabbed him by the arms. Cuttlefish pulled Blake back and Blake landed on his knees on the floating rock before he wiped the ink off his face.

"Th...Th...Thanks, Captain" Blake said getting his words out.

"That was close, bucko, you almost took a fall," said Cuttlefish helping him up.

Blake turned toward the Ammoses and the inklings as they got further away from them.

"Blaaaake!" shouted Mimi.

"Mimi, you and everyone stay back while me and Cuttlefish find out what's going on!" yelled Blake to the group.

"OK!" yelled Mimi faintly as Blake and Cuttlefish got further.

Blake turned away and looked towards Cuttlefish who was staring at what appeared to be a giant tea kettle.

"What's that!?" asked Blake.

"I don't know, Bucko, this wasn't here before and what's it doing near my cabin!?" exclaimed Cuttlefish.

"I bet Octavio knows," said Blake sternly.

"your probably right," said Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish kicked the kettle and suddenly a hatch opened on top of the kettle. Cuttlefish and Blake looked at each other then back at the Kettle.

"Maybe it's some kind of... portal? said Blake.

"I'm not sure bucko" responded Cuttlefish.

Just then the tea kettle made a boiling sound and turned on as they got closer to the octarians's floating landmass.

"Well I guess we're about to find out," said Cuttlefish as they both looked at the giant landmass then back to the kettle.

Cuttlefish squid formed and hopped into the kettle reaching his tentacle out to Blake. Blake looked at the tentacle hesitantly and gulped. He finally grabbed the tentacle and closed his eyes. "Hang on Bucko!" yelled Cuttlefish as the tea kettle steamed and the two of them shot out towards the giant floating land.

* * *

The floating landmass moved over the inkling territory and floated towards the human ruins the inklings fled to after the octarians attacked them.

"Sir, we're approaching the ancient human city," said an octoling.

"Good, the operation is entering its final stages. Get to your stations," ordered Octavio.

The octolings saluted and moved to different areas in the domes, readying themselves for the next stage of Octavio's scheme.

Octavio made his way to his flying DJ booth activating it and its weapons. He floated out of the domes and back onto the surface waiting for his plan to come in motion as he flew above the octarian army that was waiting for further orders.

"I might not have finished with those inkstains, but I'm going for a bigger prize, soon no one will stand up against me and the octarians," said Octavio as he made his way in front of the octarians.

Octavio positioned himself and gave a commemorative speech for the octarians.

"The time for octarian rule has come. We will reign supreme as we conquer the land. No longer will we have to fear for the rising seas or the inklings taking our territory. The future is now as we ascend above our new city full of technology left behind by humans from long ago. We will not share the same fate as they did and will vastly improve our society for years to come. Long live the Octarians!" shouted Octavio.

The octarians gave a loud cheer as they looked forward to the operation being completed.

DJ Octavio glanced back over toward the human ruins and gave a sinister smile. "Soon, this will be the octarian capital and no one will stand before us. Our dreams will soon become reality," said Octavio.

"Sir! 10 minutes until our arrival over the ruins," said one of the octolings that stayed back while the others made they're way down.

"Good! Victory is assured, now head down with the rest of the army and prepare the zapfish," said Octavio. The octoling saluted and rushed down to the domes.

"Soon, no one will stop us, not even that fossil," jeered Octavio as he continued to look toward the ruins.

After a while, Octavio decided to go down and check on the giant zapfish.

* * *

Cuttlefish and Blake made it out of another tea kettle and found themselves in one of the domes. Blake was shaking in fear from the trip. "I...I... (pant) never(pant) want to(pant) do that again," said Blake catching his breath and trembling.

"bucko, when you recompose yourself, we need to find out where we are and what's going on," said Cuttlefish.

Blake nervously nodded as he tried to shake it off.

Cuttlefish looked around. "Where are we?" Cuttlefish asked.

"I'm not sure," said Blake as he and Cuttlefish walked around. They soon spot a computer ahead of them. Blake and Cuttlefish approached the screen of the console.

"Blake, that looks like human language, like on that ID card you had," motioned Cuttlefish.

"You're right, and look on the corner of the screen, it's that Namabo symbol," pointed Blake.

"Yeah, but... what does that mean?" asked Cuttlefish looking back at Blake.

Blake didn't respond as he read the windows on the screen. It gave information about the domes and their purpose. They were built as a resettlement project for humanity when they descended back on earth from the ark. Blake looked desperately on the roster on the computer for his last name assuming the names of his family. Blake finally stopped scrolling as he found the four names with the same last name as his. Blake had froze and stared at the screen with distressed look.

"Blake! what is it?!" asked Cuttlefish with concern.

"I think...I found my family," is Blake could say, in a stunned tone.

"What?... that's good bucko...but where could they be?" asked Cuttlefish.

"I don't think they're here, the last dream I had of them was (sigh) They flew out of this large spaceship they were on, looking for me... They landed back down on earth and swam toward an island they spotted when they crashed the ship they were on," Blake said depressingly downing his head towards the floor.

Cuttlefish walked over to Blake and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Bucko I'm not sure how long you were in that pod we found you in... but, I promise I'll help you find your family after we deal with Octavio," said Cuttlefish trying to be supportive.

"You...will," said Blake as he lifted his head with pleading eyes.

"I promise," said Cuttlefish with compassion.

Blake and Cuttlefish hugged each other and made their way further into the domes. They came across an elevator that appeared to go up. The two entered the elevator that brought them to a large chamber housing the giant zapfish above them. The two walked over toward the giant fish and stare up at it.

"What is that thing?" asked Blake as he was stunned by the appearance of the large fish.

"I think that's the giant zapfish, I've read about them in school, They produce a lot of, what did Ammoses call it, elec...tricity? and they're rare. I wonder how they came across it," exclaimed Cuttlefish in fascination with the huge fish.

"Captain look at this!" shouted Blake.

Blake was pointing to a large cable that was plugged into the pad that was below the giant zapfish. The cable ran from a large device that had other cables running in different directions through the underground facility as well as a large antenna that was emitting signals from it.

"Captain, I wonder if this fish is causing the octarian's territory to fly in the air, maybe even powering the octarians equipment too," said Blake.

"That's a good possibility, but let's not do anything until we confront Octavio," advised Cuttlefish.

"Well, here I am!" roared a familiar voice.

Cuttlefish and Blake jump and turned to the source of the voice. It was no other than Octavio with his army standing behind with weapons drawn. Cuttlefish and Blake glared at the octarian leader. Ready for a fight.

"Octavio! you have a lot to answer for, all the inkling lives you've taken and homes you destroyed! Let's finish this!" shouted Cuttlefish.

"Oh cry me a river hipster, You, those inkstains and that human are history. Once my plans come together no one will stop me and the octarians will reign," gloating Octavio.

"Blake! head back to the great zapfish! Unplug it when I say so!" commanded Cuttlefish.

"No Cuttlefish! I won't let you take him on by yourself! This isn't like what it was when you fought them in the village!" protested Blake.

"Blake! I can take him! Just get to the great zapfish so you can turn the power off! Hopefully, you're right about the device it was hooked up to and that we can stop Octavio's plans," explained Cuttlefish.

"But, captain... (sigh) just kick his octopus ass!" said Blake as he left back to the giant zapfish.

"Deal with that talking fossil!" ordered Octavio to some of his troops. "I'll deal with this hipster!" jeered Octavio.

The final battle between the races was about to begin, mono e mono, former friends about to duke it out as Blake was being pursued by the octarians stopping him from reaching the zapfish. Let the fight begin!


	14. Arc 1 Chapter 13

**Arc 1 Chapter 13**

Ammoses, Mimi and the inklings had followed the floating landmass all the way back to the ruins of the ancient human city. Still stunned at the sight of the giant floating rock that was once part of the valley. Mimi, Ammoses and everyone stopped at the plaza of the ruins looking up contemplating what to do.

"We can't squid jump up there, it's still too high," exclaimed Mimi.

"I wish there was a way to get up there," said Ammoses.

Just then Ammoses and Mimi heard meowing. The looked and saw that it was Judd.

Judd had stayed back at Ammoses tent at one of Ammoses's dig sites with food. Ammoses didn't want Judd to get hurt while they made their way to the village to fight the octarians. Judd saw the octarian's floating territory when it flew over and wondered what was going and followed it to the city ruins like the inklings.

"Ammoses, what's going on? why is that land floating and where are Cuttlefish and Blake?" asked Judd telepathically while meowing.

"Judd you were supposed to stay back at my tent, but (sigh)... it's the octarians doings," said Ammoses.

"Cuttlefish and Blake are up there!" exclaimed Mimi pointing up towards the floating giant rock.

Judd looked up and after a moment he could sense Blake on the giant landmass. "Wait! I can sense him," said Judd.

"You can?" asked a questioned Ammoses.

"Blake is fighting the octarians, he's trying to unplug something," said Judd trying to connect to Blake's thoughts.

"Unplug something?" said a confused Ammoses.

"Yeah, I believe it's the octarians power source," explained Judd.

Ammoses and the others looked back up at the floating landmass wondering what was going on, hoping Blake and Cuttlefish were stopping the octarians.

"Their's nothing we can do right now but pray that Blake and Cuttlefish defeat Octavio and the octarians," said Ammoses as he looked back at Mimi and Judd.

* * *

Cuttlefish was battling with Octavio while Blake was dealing with the giant zapfish, the source of the octarians power. As Blake got close to the plugin, the octarians fired at Blake stopping him from unplugging the power source. Blake took cover behind some computers while the octarians shot ink towards him.

"Don't let him unplug the power emitter!" shouted an Octoling.

Blake leaned over his cover and shot at the octolings, splatting a few of them before they found cover. Blake had to make each shot count since Cuttlefish could not refill his tank.

Meanwhile, Cuttlefish was squid forming in ink puddles he made evading Octavio's attacks.

"Come on! Is that the best you got! Can't hit a tiny squid?" taunted Cuttlefish.

Octavio roared on his floating DJ booth as he shoots ink missiles towards Cuttlefish. For a while, Cuttlefish had managed to avoid all of Octavio's attacks easily. Octavio was getting frustrated as his army sat back and watched the two fight.

"Hold still hipster! While I remix your face!" yelled Octavio.

Blake was still shooting at the octarians as the octotroopers made their move towards him. He splatted them as they got closer. Blake was running low on ink and he had hurry up and unplug the octarians energy source. Blake took an opportunity while the octolings were hiding behind cover and made a beeline towards the plug.

"Stop Him!" shouted an octoling.

Blake was almost at the plug when a stream of ink flew towards him. He ducked and slid, turning towards the octolings and shot at the octoling that fired at him, splatting them. Octavio soon noticed that Blake was defeating the octolings and was almost at the plug.

"If you want something done right, then you gotta do it yourself!" shouted Octavio and fired an ink missile towards Blake.

Cuttlefish popped out the ink and watched the missile head towards Blake.

"Blake! Look out!" yelled Cuttlefish.

But it was too late the missile impacted in front of Blake and he flew backward, lying on his stomach motionless covered in ink.

"Bucko!" shouted Cuttlefish horrified at the sight of Blake's motionless body.

"One hipster down, one to go," gloated Octavio as he looked at Blake's body and then back towards Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish was fighting back his tears and he turned back toward Octavio. Cuttlefish was enraged and gave a death glare towards the floating DJ clinching his fist and baring his teeth.

"Octavio! You're going to pay dearly for that! He was your friend and you KILLED HIM!" roared Cuttlefish with tears in his eyes.

"I don't need friends when I have an army and the great zapfish. Now where were we?" responded an emotionless Octavio.

Cuttlefish charged at Octavio and Octavio prepared for another attack.

* * *

Judd had a horrified look on his face as he stood in silence.

"Judd? Judd what is it! what's going on!" asked Ammoses frantically.

"It's Blake... I can't sense him anymore," said a shocked Judd

"What? what do you mean? wait... that doesn't mean he's" said a scared Ammoses.

Judd nodded and told Mimi and Ammoses about seeing a missile head towards Blake and seeing nothing but an explosion of ink.

"No...he can't be" exclaimed Mimi as she started to cry.

"No, I won't believe it either... Blake's stronger than that, I know he made it!" exclaimed Ammoses.

The three looked back up that the floating landmass fearing what was happening up there.

"Blake...you can't be dead, like Ammoses said, your stronger than that, and I know you and Cuttlefish will defeat Octavio," said Mimi as she held her hands together.

* * *

The battle between Octavio and Cuttlefish was heated as Cuttlefish evaded attacks and was shooting at Octavio with his bamboozler. Octavio like Cuttlefish also avoided the attacks and shot sound blasts and ink missiles towards his former friend. Octavio shot a missile towards Cuttlefish and he dove in ink. after the missile exploded, he dove out and shot at the DJ. He managed to hit the booth and knock it out of balance for a bit. Octavio got back on his feet and glared at Cuttlefish.

"UUHHGG... It's time to lay down this hipster with some wasabi beats!" yelled Octavio angrily.

Octavio pulled out some wasabi stalks and rubbed them on his turntables. He rammed his DJ booth towards Cuttlefish, knocking him back. Cuttlefish was laying on his back while trying to tilt his head up. Octavio approached him lording over his body.

"Any last words ink stain?!" asked Octavio in a smug tone.

"Yeah, This!" yelled Cuttlefish as he rolled towards his bamboozler taking aim and shooting Octavio in the chest. Octavio jumped back and yelped.

Cuttlefish stood up slowly shaking off the impact from the DJ booth and prepared to finish Octavio when movement caught the corner of his eye and turned toward the direction of the great zap fish.

* * *

Judd perked up and gave a meow.

"Judd, what is it now?" asked Ammoses anxiously.

"It's Blake...He's alive," exclaimed Judd.

"Blake? He's alive," repeated Mimi with hope.

"I knew he'd make it," said Ammoses in relief.

The three of them were relieved to find out that Blake was not dead and hoped that Cuttlefish and Blake would defeat Octavio.

After a few minutes the giant landmass shook and was making all kinds of noise, then suddenly they noticed that it was descending down towards the shoreline south of the ruins.

"Wha...wha...what's going on? why is it falling?!" asked Mimi in great concern.

"I don't know, but we got to follow it! Come on!" commanded Ammoses.

Ammoses and the others followed the landmass out of the city ruins and toward the shoreline worried for Blake and Cuttlefish as it was getting closer and closer to the ground.

* * *

While Cuttlefish and Octavio were battling. Blake's body was stirring and started to move. Blake moaned and slowly picked himself up. He was kneeled down spitting ink out of his mouth and wiped his face turning towards the battle. After a moment he turned back toward the pad and plugin. He finally stood up and stumbled toward the plugin as he got close he was grabbed from behind and slung backward away from the plugin. It was a wounded octoling partially covered in ink.

"Oh no you don't fossil!" shouted the octoling baring its teeth.

Blake rose back up and looked at the octoling that was clinching its fist and getting into a fighting stance. Blake then bent down and tackled the octoling onto the computer console by the powered pad holding the giant zapfish.

The octoling closed its hands together and swung down on Blake's back as he had the octoling pinned against the computer. He yelped and the octoling uppercut Blake knocking him back. The octoling then lunged at Blake pinning him down on the floor. Blake kicked the octoling off and made his way back toward the plugin before he was grabbed by the octoling again.

The octoling held on to his back as Blake tried to shove them off. The octoling released and Blake and he turned towards them.

"Is that the best you got human?!" sneered the octoling.

"not even close," sneered Blake.

The octoling gritted its teeth and charged at Blake who was standing in front of the computer console. When octoling got close enough, Blake grabbed their head and rammed it on the computer screen knocking the octoling out. The octoling laid on the floor motionless while the computer screen flashed red saying ERROR!

Blake felt the large facility shake and shift. The malfunctioned computer was causing the landmass to move away toward the shoreline. Blake looked around and then turned back to the plugin. He tugged and tugged until he unplugged the power source. soon everything was powered down and the landmass was descending.

Meanwhile, Octavio was about to deliver a final blow, the facility shook violently and the octarians that were watching the battle panicked and scattered.

"Hey! What's going on?!, shouted Octavio, then all of a sudden his DJ booth powered down and dropped on the floor.

"What The?" shouted Octavio as he fell off the booth. He looked over and saw that Blake had unplugged the zapfish from the power emitter.

"You?!" shouted Octavio utterly shocked that Blake was still alive.

Cuttlefish turned his head at what octavio had yelled at and saw that his best friend was alive and kicking. His eyes watered with tears of joy seeing Blake and that he unplugged the power from the machine.

"Bucko!" shouted Cuttlefish as he got up and punched Octavio while he was frozen in disbelief, knocking him out.

Blake and Cuttlefish ran to each other hugging one another then pulled away.

"Bucko! I thought you were dead for sure," exclaimed Cuttlefish in relief.

"It'll take a lot more than that to kill this squidbeak agent," replied Blake.

Cuttlefish gave a smile and chuckled at Blake, happy to see that he survived the ink missile.

"aaawww... I hate to break your little moment up but I'm not done with you Cuttlefish! I may not have my DJ booth, but this octopus has still some fight left in him!" glared Octavio as lept up and launched wasabi stalks at Cuttlefish and Blake.

"Bucko! watch out!" shouted Cuttlefish as he jumped in front of Blake twirling his bamboozler deflecting the wasabi stalks back at Octavio.

"You ok!" Cuttlefish asked Blake.

"Yeah, I'm fine captain," said Blake.

The two of them soon walked over toward Octavio who knocked out laying on the floor.

"I'm sorry old friend, but it's time for you to answer to all that you've done," said Cuttlefish as he looked at Octavio. All of a sudden Octavio opened his eyes and kicked over Cuttlefish. He then octo formed and swam over to a large lever.

"enjoy the fall hipsters!" yelled Octavio as he shifted forms and pulled the lever. The floor opened up and they could see the land beneath them. Blake grabbed cuttlefish before he fell out.

Both of them made their way to a walkway before they could fall on the ground hundreds of feet below them.

* * *

Back in the valley below the descending landmass, Ammoses and everyone else was rushing behind the falling hunk of rock as it got closer to shore.

"We have to think of something," said Mimi in her squid form.

"There's not too much we can do," said Ammoses.

Then all of a sudden a portion of the bottom of the landmass opened up above them. They could see figures on a walkway inside.

"Hey! Is that Cuttlefish and Blake?!" yelled Mimi.

"I'm not sure, I think it is, come on!" yelled Ammoses as they continued under the descending landmass.

The two figures can be seen running down the walkway out of sight.

"Blake, Cuttlefish, please be careful," said Mimi with concern in squid form.

* * *

Back on the descending landmass, Blake and Cuttlefish were catching up with Octavio. Octavio octo formed to the end of the large chamber. He changed back to his bipedal form and looked at Blake and Cuttlefish closing in on him.

"It's over Octavio!" shouted Cuttlefish.

"It's not over until I say it is!" shouted back Octavio.

Octavio pushed a button on the wall revealing a large compartment with Blake's cryostasis pod coming out of it.

"You've been a pain in my ass for the last time, Human!" he jeered at Blake. Octavio octo formed, tackling Cuttlefish and grabbing Blake, swinging him into the pod. Octavio rushed over and slammed the hatch with Blake in it.

"Bucko!" yelled Cuttlefish reaching his arm out as he was getting up from the tackle.

"Have a nice trip! It'll be your last!" yelled Octavio as he kicked the cryostasis pod. The pod fell and slide towards the ledge of the floor. Cuttlefish chased after it and didn't have time to reach it as it fell toward the ground below.

"CAAAPPTAAIN!" yelled blake inside the pod as it fell down to the ground below them.

"BLAAAAKKKE!" yelled Cuttlefish as he reached his arm out over the ledge of the open floor.

"Not even that fossil will survive that! That pod will be his tomb!" jeered Octavio.

Cuttlefish froze in horror as his best friend and battle partner descended toward the ground out of sight.

Cuttlefish's shoulder clinched as he turned and charged at Octavio with great speed and strength. Enraged he pinned Octavio down on the floor and pointed his bamboozler in Octavio's face. Cuttlefish's expression was menacing and he looked down at Octavio with rage in his eyes and the intent to kill.

"I SHOULD SPLAT YOU RIGHT NOW! BLAKE WAS YOUR FRIEND! HE OFFERED TO TALK TO YOU AND SETTLE THINGS BETWEEN OUR RACES! HE NEVER WANTED THIS WAR! HE WANTED THINGS TO GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY WERE! AND YOU...PUSHED HIM TO HIS DEATH! YOU NEED TO DIE YOU BASTARD!" roared Cuttlefish in rage as he was fighting his tears pinning Octavio down with his foot.

Octavio laid there with no remorse and remained quiet.

"ANSWER ME!" yelled Cuttlefish with his finger on the trigger ready to kill Octavio.

"I did what I had to do, you inklings were going to take everything from us, its survival of the fittest," is all the Octavio could say.

"What?! SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST?! THAT'S WHAT YOU KILLED THE INKLINGS AND BLAKE FOR!" Yelled Cuttlefish.

Octavio showed no sign of emotion as he stared down the barrel of the bamboozler.

Cuttlefish's hands shook and tears ran down his face. In a split second. BOOOWWW! was all that could be heard.

* * *

The world seemed to stand still for a moment. There was a stillness in the air as the events that had been happening unfolded and had come to a climax. The great turf war had come to a close as the octarian leader was finally subdued and his scheme put to an end. The human Blake that had become good friends with the races had tried to stop them from going to war over the valley. He had failed to avert the battle between the races as lives were lost and spirits destroyed. He was pulled into the war to aid the inklings that were attacked by Octavio and his forces, still trying to settle things between them. He fought alongside Cuttlefish, his mentor and his friend to stop Octavio and put an end to the war, but when the fighting came to a closure, Blake paid the ultimate sacrifice at a last attempt to resolve things with Octavio between the races and fell to his death in the very pod that Octavio and Cuttlefish found him in when they were all friends.

Octavio's eyes were closed then he blinked after he heard the bamboozler go off, looking back at Cuttlefish. The bamboozler had ink dripping from the end of it. He turned his head and saw an ink splatter by his head on the floor.

Cuttlefish bit his lip and gave a deep breath closing his eyes.

Octavio was stunned and speechless at Cuttlefish's decision to show mercy after what he had done. Cuttlefish opened his eyes and stared back at Octavio.

"I...won't loose two friends," is all that Cuttlefish could say. He then grabbed his bamboozler and swung the handle end to strike Octavio in the face hard, knocking him out.

Cuttlefish took his foot off Octavio and gave a long sigh. Cuttlefish was starting to see seawater below them, he carried Octavio with his arm over his shoulder and made their way to the ledge. Before they got too far from the shoreline, Cuttlefish squid formed and grabbed Octavio. He squid jumped out of the opening and landed on the beach with Octavio hanging on. Cuttlefish watched the descending chunk of rock land in the ocean just a few miles off the shoreline. It stayed afloat with the top half of it still above the water looking like a large island.

Octavio was still knocked out and Cuttlefish could hear steps coming from behind him. He turned to look and saw that it was Ammoses, Mimi, Judd, and all the inklings. Mimi spotted and yelled "CUUUTTTLEFIIISH!" as she ran over to Cuttlefish hugging him.

"Cuttlefish! I so glad to see you again!" exclaimed a happy teary-eyed Mimi hugging Cuttlefish.

"Woah, easy lass!," said Cuttlefish prying Mimi off him.

"Cuttlefish! I see you finally stopped Octavio and the war, say where's Blake?" asked Ammoses with concern.

"Yeah! where is Blake?!" asked Mimi also with concern.

Cuttlefish just looked at Ammoses and Mimi sadly as he downed his head pulling out Blake's bamboozler in his arms.

"The lad...didn't make it," said Cuttlefish depressingly with a tear running down his face.

"(Gasp) no, it can't be, he's..." exclaimed Mimi before she covered her mouth and tears starting to form in her eyes.

"gone," is all that Cuttlefish could say.

Mimi broke down on the sand crying. Ammoses was in utter disbelief and saddened by what he heard. Judd was distressed and could no longer sense Blake anymore. The inklings were saddened and some crying hearing that Blake was no longer with them. A moment of silence and condolence went by and inklings eventually made their way back to the valley to rebuild their village.

* * *

Two years have passed since Octavio was defeated along with the Octarians. Octavio and the octarians were banished to the new island that was once the floating octarian territory, now called Octo valley. Cuttlefish stayed at his shack which was still floating above the valley along with other platforms and land for some unknown reason. He vowed to watch over the valley and ensure that the octarians would never return to the inkling territory. After Losing his friend Blake, this caused him to isolate himself from the mainland and the inkling village, but every now and then would visit and buy Krabby cakes and other supplies.

The inkling valley now called Calamari county was thriving and growing as more and more inklings populated the valley, so much that they had to find other places to live. Ammoses sent an expedition to the human ruins they once hid, during the great turf war. Ammoses, the inklings, and other sea life showed up and helped build the ancient city and fed it power, the city was slowly restored and housed hundreds of inklings and other oceanic creatures and was named Inkopolis.

Mimi had her store rebuilt and continued her business. Still saddened over the death of her human lover, she didn't socialize with people as much as she did and would make frequent visits to the garden remembering when she revealed to Blake her admiration and love for him. She would also visit Cuttlefish when she got the chance, talking about different things and the good times when Blake was with them.

Judd stayed with Ammoses back at the village. Still sleeping and eating like he always does. Judd could be seen in a picture with Cuttlefish and Ammoses standing over the valley with Judd holding the flag of victory up. This gave Ammoses an idea to invent a sport called turf war where two sides cover the turf with different colored ink. Ammoses created weapons and rules and different arenas for the inklings to play. He invented a system in which when inklings got splatted and hit they would spawn back on these power pads. Ammoses passed this sport on from generation to generation as it was written down on the history books along with the great turf war itself.

As the valley and the city of Inkopolis grew, the memories of Blake started to fade. The memory of Blake soon disappeared like he did when he was shoved off the flying landmass in the pod he was found in. As time passed Inkopolis became the modernized bustling capital of inkling territory. Where turf wars are held as the main sport of the inklings in which their culture is centered around. The great zapfish wrapped itself around a tower that overlooked the busy plaza and powered the whole city.

One day Cuttlefish, now in his 30s watched Inkopolis grow from his floating island overlooking Octo Valley. "Well, it looks like things are changing (sigh)," said Cuttlefish indifferently. after a moment he walked back over toward a tree near his shack. He plopped down and pulled out a small book. He scrolled through the book reading what appeared to be a journal. Cuttlefish is recanting the events that took place during and before the great turf war and wrote them down overtime in his small book. He pulls out an old photo of Him, Octavio, and another figure. The figure didn't look like an inkling nor an octoling. Cuttlefish was baffled and didn't remember the strange figure between him and Octavio in the photo.

Another moment passes and something catches Cuttlefish's eye in front of him. A figure was standing in front of him. As he looked it was the strange figure from the photo looking at him. Cuttlefish looked back at the photo and then back toward the figure, but it was gone. "What? Where did it..." exclaimed Cuttlefish as he quickly got up with a stunned expression. A noise caught his attention from behind. "Cuttlefish?" asked a voice. He turned and saw Mimi and Ammoses looking at with concern. "Cuttlefish what's wrong? You ok? It looks like you saw a ghost," asked Ammoses.

"Oh it's...nothing," said Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish couldn't help but feel that he knew what the strange figure he saw was but couldn't put his finger on it.

"You wanna head down to Inkopolis for a spell?" asked Mimi.

"Sure, how's the hatchling doing?" asked Cuttlefish.

"She's doing fine, she takes after her dad," said Mimi.

"We'll let's get going, I gotta get back to my shop," said Ammoses.

The three of them leave for Inkopolis but Cuttlefish is still pondering who the figure was that appeared before him. After a while, he quit thinking about it and enjoyed his company with Mimi and Ammoses. Overtime Inkopolis grew and grew more to a bustling hub for the inkling race.

Over a hundred years have passed and the pod that Blake was in was buried under what appeared to be a quarry outside of Inkopolis. It was used as a turf war arena sometimes with inklings battling and covering the area with ink. The pod was inactive until a red light came on, soon an intercom inside the pod says. "Cryostasis complete, beginning thawing process, time of release: 100 years later from last activation.". A thawed figure could be seen sitting inside the pod. Its eyes were closed until the figure's face twitched and its eyes slowly opened.

Fade to Black...

End of the first Arc.


	15. Arc 2 Opening

**Arc 2 Opening**

It has been over 2000 years since mankind went extinct from the rising seawaters. A company, known as the Kamabo Corporation had funded the construction of a massive space shuttle known as the Ark Polaris. Cryostasis pods were placed on the Ark to suspend the humans onboard while they waited for the seawaters to drop. After the Ark made its trip to space and orbit around the earth now surrounded by water one 16-year old boy discovered a heinous plot that would alter mankind to adapt to the new watery world that was once their home. The 16-year boy escaped on a self-sustaining pod that plummeted back down to the earth only to be frozen for 2000 years. The boy woke up from his long slumber to find that the earth was inhabited by strange oceanic creatures that inhabited what land was left on the submerged world.

The boy soon adapted to his new world and made friends with the creatures. As time went by another problem had emerged. The seawaters were slowly rising again as two races are pushed into a war over the land that they were living on. It seemed like history was repeating itself, a parallel of the waters flooding the lands 2000 years ago and the resource wars that finished off humanity. The boy attempted to avert the great turf war as it was called, but his reconciliation was futile. He aided his friend only to battle with his other friend. As a last effort to restore peace and end the war. The boy paid the price and was pushed back into the pod that he was once frozen in only to be his own undoing and soon his existence and memory were erased as he turned the tide of the great turf war and altered the future to come for the oceanic creatures.

Over a hundred years have passed and the great turf war became history. The valley the inklings inhabited had thrived and grew now called Calamari county. Inklings soon spread out among the valley and restored an ancient human city that survived the great floods from years ago. This city is now called Inkopolis, and it is inhabited by inklings and other oceanic life. In the center of the sits Inkopolis plaza where inklings hang around discussing and preparing for turf war. Turf wars are a sport inklings center their culture around where two teams battle it in arenas covering everything with ink. Each team has different colored ink in which the team covers the most surface wins. If teammates get hit with opposing ink they are splatted and spawn back on spawn pads to continue the match.

Looming over the plaza is Inkopolis tower wear turf war teams enter inside to compete in matches, it is also the home of the great zapfish that powers all of Inkopolis with its self-producing electricity. Without the zapfish the city would lose power and the turf wars would cease. One day the octarians managed to kidnap the great zapfish to use to power their domes under Octo valley. The octarians and inklings once lived in peace together before the great turf war when the races battled for the land that inhabited. The inklings won and octarians and their leader were banished to Octo valley to reside in the domes they now live in.

An inkling and war hero, known as Captain Cuttlefish reestablishes the Squidbeak. He resides on the edge of Octo valley watching and making sure the octarians didn't threaten the inklings, but after hearing about them taking the great zapfish he recruits his granddaughters the squid sisters. Agent 1 known as Callie and Agent 2 known as Marie. The two them also run news reports about the turf wars and other things but also work along with their grandfather in disguise hiding their identities battling the octarians when they weren't busy. Because of their schedule Cuttlefish sees that he needs to recruit an agent that could be reliable and available for the missions. They were named Agent 3, her real name is Cassie an experienced turf war player.

Agent 3 or Cassie goes down to Octo valley and fights the octarians for the zapfish they stole from the inklings. She soon is confronted by the octarian leader known as DJ Octavio. He was once friends with Captain Cuttlefish before the war. Agent 3 battles Octavio over the great zapfish and defeats him. Octavio is captured and imprisoned in a giant snowglobe for the crime of stealing the zapfish from the inklings. Power is restored to Inkopolis and turf wars commenced again. The threat of the octarians had ended...for now.


	16. Arc 2 Chapter 1

**Arc 2 Chapter 1**

It was another day in Inkopolis and the plaza was bustling with activity. Inklings were walking around, hanging, or going into the stores to buy clothes or turf war weapons. They were talking about being "fresh" a term meaning being the hippest and most stylish squid on the block and the best turf war player they can be but one inkling wasn't worried about being the freshest squid and didn't gloat about her turf war statice.

Her name was Cassie and she was a squidbeak agent known as Agent 3. She was a competitive and determined turf war player. She had managed to make it to rank-S, which was the highest tier the turf war ranks. She had competed in turf wars and her team had won many matches until her and her team competed at the final splatfest held by the squid sisters, Callie and Marie. Her team voted for Callie while the opposing team voted for Marie. After a long hard tournament, they made it to the final match but lost to team Marie.

After losing, Cassie had decided to throw in the towel and lost interest in playing in turf wars. She disconnected from her team and felt competing in turf wars was meaningless though she still trained since she was a squidbeak agent. Cassie stayed in contact with Agents 1 and 2 as well as Cuttlefish when she was needed. Octavio the leader of the octarians was imprisoned in a giant snowglobe for stealing the great zapfish and the octarian threat was put to an end. Inkopolis was safe and power was restored.

Octavio's capture and the octarians losing power caused the octarians to call for a peace treaty. The peace treaty included that octarians could leave Octo valley and visit and even live in Inkopolis and the inkling territory. They would receive enough zapfish to power their underground domes so they wouldn't live in the dark and suffer since they depended on the zapfish they had stolen before. The treaty was signed and the inklings and octarians soon were at a truce, but some octarians loyal to Octavio refused to adhere to the truce and plotted in the shadows to free Octavio and attack Inkopolis to get back the great zapfish. The octarians became known as the Octo rebels.

* * *

A clock alarm goes off and two figures on a bed struggle to go back to sleep. One of the figures mumbles and flinches reaching up to press the snooze button. They finally succeed and the alarm clock is shut off. The figure sits up out of bed yawning exposing the three fangs in their mouth. They soon start stretching and rubbing their eyes surrounded by a black mask-like marking. Black long tentacles replace hair and their eyes are golden with a cross-shaped pupil. This figure is none other than Callie of the Squid Sisters. she looks over to her cousin Marie who is still laying down. she is also an inkling like Callie. Her tentacles are long and grey. She also has a black mask around her eyes and just like her cousin Callie her eyes are golden with a cross-shaped pupil.

"Marie, wake up," said Callie rubbing Marie in an attempt to wake her up.

"mmm...just let me sleep Callie," mumbled Marie.

"Marie, we have to get up, we gotta head to the studio and give the news report," exclaimed Callie.

"mmm...one more minute," mumbled Marie.

Callie gave a long sigh and got out of bed to get ready. She brushed her teeth, got changed, and started to eat her breakfast.

Marie walked out of the bedroom rubbing her eyes and yawned.

"I don't see the point in heading to the studio to give the big announcement about the new site for the turf war games, I'm sure everyone knows about it," said Marie crossing her arms.

"We have to Marie, I hate it that the plaza will be shutting down in a month and that the turf war games will be held at the new square that's being built," said Callie in disapproval like her cousin.

"You know this means that we won't be giving the news on turf wars anymore since the Turf war league directors want new fresh talent to take our places giving out the news during the games." said an annoyed Marie.

"I'll miss it too Marie but look at the bright side, we'll be able to do more stuff and visit family like gramps a lot more often," said Callie trying to cheer her cousin Marie.

"I guess your right Cal," responded Marie releasing her arms and give a short sigh of relief.

"That's the spirit Marie," said a happy Callie as she walked over to Marie and gave her a hug.

"oh...Callie" is all that Marie could say as she hugged Callie and gave a smile.

The two of them finished and made their way to the plaza where their studio was located and gave the news announcement.

The squid sisters arrived at the Inkopolis news studio. It was a two-story building with a cafe on the first floor and the studio itself located on top via a walkway. It was overlooking the plaza near the Inkopolis tower. It is where the squid sisters gave news and updates about turf wars. Inside the studio were 2 giant studio chairs the squid sisters sat on with a table between them. A giant tv screen sat behind them and showed different turf war stages and reports while they gave the news.

The Squid sisters walked in and got ready to give the news about the new turf war hangout that was being built.

"Hello, Inkopolis! This is the squid sisters here to give you today's news! The plaza will soon be shutting down in a month and the opening of the new Inkopolis Square will begin! Unfortunately, me and Marie will not be giving Inkopolis news anymore once the square opens. We hope you've enjoyed your time in the plaza and are excited about the square opening!" said Callie trying to hide her distress, but also trying to stay energetic.

"Yes, Everyone! The stores will be moving to the square and the great zapfish will inhabit the new Deca tower overlooking the square. the turf war lobby will be relocated for the matches so don't worry," said Marie.

"So me and Marie will retiring from our news gig and handing the job over to a new fresh duo, hopefully, that will do a wonderful job," said Callie.

"Well everyone, we will miss you and giving updates and news about the turf wars and hope you have a fun time at the new Inkopolis square," said Marie trying to stay energetic.

"So next time! Remember to, Stay Fresh!" the squid sisters ais in unison with their signature pose.

The squid sisters were done and the screen turned off behind them.

"(sigh) I hate that we won't be giving the news anymore," said Callie in a saddened tone.

"(sigh) Me to Cal, but we have no choice," said Marie.

Callie downed her head and Marie came over to comfort her, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"It's not the end of the world Cal, like you said, we can go out and do things and visit gramps more," said Marie consoling her cousin.

"(sniff) you're right Marie, thanks for trying to cheer me up," said Callie as she looked up to Marie and gave a slight smile.

"That's what cousins are for," said Marie hugging Callie. "Let's go see what gramps is up to," suggested Marie as the two them soon leave the studio.

* * *

Some inklings were talking near Crusty Sean's a food eatery that was near the plaza run by Crusty Sean, a talking shrimp covered in bread crumbs who served inklings food when they were hungry or thirsty. It was a popular hangout spot in the plaza whether they were discussing turf war games, being fresh or on their squidphones chatting.

"So I wonder what the new square is going to look like?" asked a male inkling.

"I don't know, I wonder whose going to give the Inkopolis news since the squid sisters are leaving," asked a female inkling.

"I'm going to miss them, it's a shame but out with the old and in the new, as they always say, gotta stay fresh," commented another male inkling.

"I can't wait for the square to open and start playing turf war games again, I heard there going to be pulling new rookies from all over to compete and start in the turf wars once the new Deca tower opens," said another female inkling.

One inkling was overhearing their conversation and turned to listen and just rolled her eyes and soon left the table she was sitting at. It was Cassie, who slung her backpack over her shoulder and gave a sigh.

"who cares about the new square and the new rookies they're trying to attract, Turf wars a pointless, being the best doesn't always pay off," said Cassie disgruntled.

Cassie was walking along and stumbled onto another group of inklings. They were talking about the Pirahna pit being closed for archeological digging for the Tentatek company. Tentatek was a company that incorporated into turf weapons and gear for turf players in the matches. They funded dig sites like the Pirahna pit to find human artifacts for weapon designs and other technology. What Tentatek found; any artifacts they couldn't use especially if they had a historical interest; they gave to the Shellendorf Institute, a museum of inkling history as well as human and octarian.

"Yeah, I've always liked that arena, too bad it'll be closed for a week," said a female inkling.

"I don't know what else they can dig up, It seems they've found enough stuff from that ancient race that went extinct," said a male inkling.

"I wonder if they'll find anything interesting, the most interesting thing they found was that human fossil the last time they dug up at Pirahna pit," said another inkling.

Cassie heard the conversation and took an interest in going to go see the human fossil at the institute. She hadn't been there in a while and took interest in inkling history and at times human, wondering what human culture was like and the humans themselves. She kept walking and headed to the institute. Inside she made her way to the human exhibits and saw different human technology ranging from a dug up decrepit car, a radio then the human fossil itself.

She looked at the human fossil studying it and reading a message on the placard in front of it.

"Hmm...humans sure were tall, Its head sure is small, I wonder if they were even intelligent. weird they had bones in their body, wonder if they had another form or not," said Cassie examing the fossil.

Cassie shrugged her shoulders and moved on looking at other exhibits before leaving the institute and heading back home.

* * *

At the Pirahna pit, an archeological team composed of talking jellyfish were walking around and digging using tools and equipment. Hours of digging and looking for ancient human artifacts paid off when they came across and pulled out a large metal pod covered in mud. The pod seemed like it was intact with a hatch on the side of it. The hatch had a small window on it but it was glazed over and you couldn't see what was inside it.

"What is this thing?" asked a jellyfish.

"hmmm...I don't know, maybe some kind of capsule," said another jellyfish.

"There seems to be some kind of hatch on it, I wonder if their's something inside it, " wondered the first jellyfish.

"Don't be ridiculous, If there is, it can't be alive, we'll give to the Shellendorf institute to study it, it's of no use for Tentatek, let's keep digging," commanded the foreman of the site.

The jellyfish loaded the metal pod on a truck and took it to the Shellendorf Institute.

As the truck started to leave, a figure inside started to move. It didn't appear to be any oceanic based-life form and shortly laid still again as if it went back to sleep.

* * *

The squid sisters left their apartment and headed for Cuttlefish's, outside of Octo valley. The only way there was through a storm grate located near the plaza. They squid formed and jump through the grate and into a tunnel. The tunnel was long and dark and led back to the other end. The squid sisters made to the other end out of another storm grate outside of Cuttlefish's shack.

The squid sisters walked over and saw Cuttlefish watching the valley.

"Gramps?" called Marie to Cuttlefish with his back turned.

"grandsquids? What are ya'll doing here?" asked Cuttlefish turning toward them.

"We came to visit," said Callie.

"Gramps, you know you don't have to watch the valley, the inklings and octarians had a truce," explain Marie.

"yeah, you can come back to Inkopolis more ofter and visit us," said Callie.

"I don't trust the octarians, truce or not, they've had it out for us since they were banished," replied Cuttlefish turning his head back toward the valley.

"Gramps, Octavio has been captured, the octarians are leaderless and besides they have no reason to attack if they have some zapfish to power their domes," commented Marie reassuring her Cuttlefish.

"You may be right, but I'm still not letting my guard down, I believe the octarians will try to free octavio and attack us when we don't expect it," said a stressed Cuttlefish pointing his bamboo cane towards Octavio who was imprisoned in a giant snowglobe.

"Mark my words Cuttlefish, I will get free and have my revenge on you inkstains!" yelled Octavio in the snowglobe.

"Can it! you overgrown octopus, you've been defeated multiple times and your plans are always thwarted," replied Cuttlefish swing his cane down in front of Octavio.

Octavio groaned and turned his body around crossing his tentacles.

"(sigh) I'm getting tired of watching this jaded Octopus, I remember a time when we were friends. (sigh)," said an exhausted Cuttlefish.

"It's hard to believe you two were friends, I remember you telling us the story about you being in the great turf war," said Marie.

"I hate that the inklings and octarians went to war with each other long ago, but I'm glad now that we've reached a truce now," said Callie.

"I hope it stays that way," said Cuttlefish.

"As long as Octavio is apprehended and the octarians have zapfish I'm sure peace between the races will stay," said Marie reassuring Cuttlefish.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right, but someone needs to stay here and watch him," commented Cuttlefish.

"I don't think he's going anywhere, gramps. Now come on, lets head to the plaza and get you some new clothes, you've been wearing the same thing for ages now," said Marie.

"yeah gramps, it wouldn't hurt to get out every now and then," said Callie backing up her cousin.

"(sigh) alright grandsquids, you win, I'll come, but I don't want to stay too long," said Cuttlefish in defeat.

The three of look back at Octavio who still had his back turned and soon the three made their way to the storm grate and back to Inkopolis.

* * *

It was soon getting late in Inkopolis. The squid sisters along with the grandfather, Cuttlefish made their way to the plaza to shop for clothes. Cuttlefish who wasn't enthused about the trip was eager to get back to his shack fearing that Octavio may escape. Overtime and much browsing Cuttlefish finally found some fresh new threads. It was a green jogging suit with black and white slip-ons. He also picked out a white beret with funny looking headphones. Afterward, they left and headed back to Cuttlefish's relieved to see Octavio sleeping in the snowglobe untouched. The squid sisters left and headed back to their apartment and got ready for another day.

Cassie was at home after she ran into her old turf match team. They talked for a while hoping Cassie would play turf wars again and get back on the team but Cassie disappointed them and was worried about other matters. They still remained friends and Cassie would ofter to stay in contact with them once in a while. Cassie was starting to get tired and yawned as she read her book. She was nodding off and decided to head to bed. Cassie had a lot on her mind whether if she should get back to playing turf wars and take the offer in getting back with her old team. None the less she got if off her mind and fell asleep.

At the Shellendorf Institute, some jellyfish from the dig site at Pirahna Pit unloaded the metal pod they found and transported it to the human history hall. The Institute manager was excited to see the metal pod and was eager to open and see what was inside. They placed the pod in a back room for studying and locked it up. The museum slowly closed down and everything was shut off. Security strolled down through the grounds of the Institute keeping an out for any intruders that could break-in. As the night went by no one noticed on the pod was a red light flashing as a figure inside was slowly waking up from a hundred-year slumber.


	17. Arc 2 Chapter 2

**Arc 2 Chapter 2**

It was night time in Inkopolis, and the streets showed little life. At the Shellendorf Institute, jellyfish guards were patrolling the institute grounds watching for anything. As time went by, two silhouettes can be seen looking through a skylight on the roof looking into the museum. The two figures opened the skylight and squid formed as they dropped. It was two inklings that returned back to their bipedal forms and looked around. They placed a ski mask over their heads and squid formed to avoid the guards. They slithered to the human exhibit hall looking for something. The went back to their bipedal form and looked around.

"It's not here, they must not have put it out yet," said one of the inkling burglars

"Where could it be?" asked the other one.

"I don't know, maybe they put it in the back somewhere, let's keep looking," said the first inkling.

The two inklings squid formed and made their way toward the back rooms. They moved down a hall and looked through the doors and had no luck. The two of them spot the last door but it is locked. Inside they see their target the metal pod that was dug up at piranha pit. The inklings devise a plan to move through the ductwork to access the locked room. The two of them drop out of the air vent in the ceiling in squid form and turn back. The two turn and look at the pod.

"So,... how do we get it out," asked one inkling.

"I'm not sure, but the boss wants it took back to headquarters," said the other one.

Just then they notice a red light flashing on the pod.

"what's that red light flashing for?" asked the inking.

"I'm not sure, but let's not worry about...what are you doing!" exclaimed the other inkling.

"What's in this thing anything?" asked the inkling as he walked over the pod and looked through the hatch window.

"What's it matter! We gotta get this thing outta here before we get caught!" shouted the other inkling.

"I can't see anything, it's too dirty," said the inkling looking through the window.

As the inkling jumped down he accidentally pushed a button. A voice then came on from the pod.

"Preparing to open pod...subject under thawing process...please be careful," the voice said from the pod.

The inklings jerked back and were surprised.

"What the?!" said the first inkling.

"I don't know, I couldn't understand it!" said the other inkling.

They couldn't make out what it said, but it was loud enough to get the attention of a nearby guard. The jellyfish guard made his way down the hallway to the back rooms and saw the inkling burglars in the last room with the door open.

"Hey!" shouted the guard before he activated the alarm.

The alarm went off and the inklings squid jumped into the ventilation system. They maneuvered through the ducts until they managed to get away from the museum.

"That was close!" exclaimed the inkling.

"Yeah, but the boss isn't going to be happy when we get back empty-handed," exclaimed the other inkling as the two squid jumped off the roof of the institute and out of sight.

Meanwhile, as the guard left and ran back to the front lobby the pod opened to reveal a figure inside. Unlike the two burglars, this figure was clearly not an inkling or any oceanic creature. It was a human, he had short blonde hair and when he started to open his eyes they were blue without any markings around them. His ears were small and round unlike an inkling and had flat teeth with small four sharp fangs instead of three large fangs. The human started to slowly move and fell forward on the floor, he stayed motionless for a few minutes until he got his bearings. He slowly got up and looked around.

"Where...am, I?" the human asked himself.

He started to put his hands over his face to break his daze.

He slowly walked out of the room and down a hallway, confused to where he was. He made it to the exhibit lobby and looked around.

"What is this place?" the human asked again.

"Who's there?! shouted a voice.

The human panicked and hid behind the human fossil exhibit as a jellyfish guard rushed over with a flashlight. After looking around the guard moved away.

"That was close, was that a talking jellyfish, he didn't sound friendly. I better find a way out of this place," said the human as he moved around hoping to avoid anyone.

"This place is amazing, what is all this stuff," he said in curiosity as he looked around trying to find an exit.

All the doors were locked and so were the windows. He then came across some kind of shute and opened it. It read garbage and seemed to go down.

"Well, hopefully, this leads out," said the Human. As he climbed in, a guard came around the corner and pointed a flashlight at him.

"Hey, you! Stop!" yelled the jellyfish guard as he ran toward the human. The human took no time and slid down the garbage shoot and landed in a dumpster.

he climbed out and ran down an alley confused at where he was. When he reached the end of the alley he bent over in exhaustion. As he pulled back up he noticed all the lit-up signs and different advertisements on the buildings. Unsure how to make things he stayed hidden and found a box to sleep in until he figured things out.

He nodded off and fell asleep. Exhausted from escaping the museum.

* * *

The following morning Cassie woke up from a call on her phone. "mmmmm..." Cassie mumbled as she rolled and placed the pillow on her face as the phone continued to ring. She finally threw the pillow off her face and turned to answer the phone. It was Marie also known as agent 2.

Cassie answered the phone. "What is it Marie?... do have any idea what time it is!" said Cassie in an irritated tone.

"That's Agent 2! and this is an emergency, report to Cuttlefish's immediately," commanded Marie before she was hung up.

"Uuuhhh..." Cassie moaned as she was irritated from being woken up.

Cassie got up and ready. She made her way down to the storm grate at the plaza and headed to Cuttlefish's shack. There, she met up with Cuttlefish and the squid sisters.

"This better be good," said Cassie agitated with her arms crossed.

"It is Agent 3, apparently there was a break-in at the Shellendorf Institute, two masked individuals attempted to take an artifact from the museum but fortunately their attempt had failed and they got away," explained Marie.

"What?! That's It!...Pppfff, nothing the police can't handle," said an irritated Cassie.

"That's not all Agent 2, Apparently they weren't alone. Another figure was spotted before it got away but the description by the guard had me confused but concerned. The figure apparently was neither an inkling or any other oceanic, wearing odd clothes. Possibly an octoling in disguise, I'm not sure," said Marie.

"Sounds like they need a detective too," said Cassie rolling her eyes.

"Agent 2 this is serious, If it was an octoling, then we need to address it, this would be a direct violation of the treaty if they attempted to steal anything," said Marie.

"Marie don't be see hard on her, she had been through a lot and I'm sure she had other matters to attend too," said Callie.

"No, Callie, It's...ok (sigh) I'll see what I find out," said Cassie in a defeated tone.

"Thank you Agent 3, we knew we could count on you," said Callie in relief.

"Head over to the Institute and find any clues lass, hopefully, the octolings aren't up to something," said Cuttlefish.

"right away, captain," said Cassie as she saluted and headed back to Inkopolis.

Marie gave a long sigh and turned toward Callie.

"Callie I know you're sticking up for her but she's a squidbeak agent and needs to learn to follow orders," said Marie crossing her arms.

"I know Marie, but she's done a great job as an agent in catching Octavio and bringing the great zapfish back, I'm sure she feels overwhelmed and is trying to catch up with her life and all, just go easy on her, ok," pleaded Callie trying to relieve the tension from her cousin.

"(sigh) Cal, you're always trying to take the tension off things...but, fine I'll lay off a little," said Marie giving a smile.

"Thanks, Marie," said Callie as she hugged her cousin.

"All right grandsquids, we need be on the lookout for that strange figure, I'd say go around the city and look around and ask questions, in your disguises of course," suggested Cuttlefish.

"Ok, gramps," said both of the cousins.

The three of them made their way to the storm grate and headed off to Inkopolis.

* * *

A figure was sleeping in a box, sunlight was bleeding through one of the creases of the box. The figure slowly opened his eyes and opened the box to look out. He eventually crawled out the box and looked around unsure where he was. he recapped the events at the museum from last night and placed his hand on his head.

"mmmmmm" the figure moaned as he closed his eyes. visions were starting to appear in his head about past events. These images were about him being found by strange creatures that had found him in a metal pod, he soon befriended these creatures and dwelled among them. He also remembered fighting in a war between the creatures over their homeland and being tossed back in the same metal pod. A voice could be heard shouting "BLAAAKE! as things turned dark at the end of the vision.

"Blake...Blake... BLAKE! THAT"S ME!, Blake loudly shouted then covering his mouth to quiet himself. "Wait, where?... What?... When?" said blake confused with his head hurting.

"I... remember now...wait...Cuttlefish...Octavio...the war, THE WAR!" shouted Blake as he started to run around. Blake then stopped to recollect his thoughts. He remembers being thrown back into the cryostasis pod and falling to his doom off that floating landmass.

He then looks around again and heads back to the end of the alley studying the buildings.

"how long has it been? I don't recognize this place at all," said blake worried. He then walks back into the alley and ponders. After a moment it comes to him.

"I have to find Cuttlefish, but where do I start. I don't even know where I am," said Blake.

Footsteps could be heard approaching coming from the street getting closer.

"I gotta hide," says Blake quietly.

He hides in a dumpster and peers out the top to see who was coming. It was three inklings talking about the museum incident from last night.

As they walk off, Blake raises up and looks at them.

"Those are inklings, but their wearing clothes I've never seen before. I have a gut feeling that maybe I should stay out of sight until I figure out what's going on especially since I almost got caught last night," said Blake as he spotted a manhole and went down into the sewers to stay out of sight.

* * *

Cassie finally made it to the Shellendorf Institute to see if she could find any clues or leads on the mysterious figure that escaped the museum from last night. She made her way through the main lobby and toward the human exhibits. The area was taped off by the inkling authorities and was denied access to the public. She walked under the tape with no one around and scoured for anything suspicious.

After minutes of looking she found nothing. She left the exhibit area and looked around until she heard some jellyfish museum staff talking about the events from last light to an inkling police officer. She eavesdropped behind an inkling statue in the inkling history exhibit.

"They broke in the very back room and were trying to get that metal pod out of here, but it appears they took whatever was in it if there was anything in that thing," said the jellyfish to the police officer.

"Hmmm, metal pod, I wonder why the burglars were after that?" pondered Cassie as she snuck away and made her way down to the room that housed the metal pod.

She squid formed down the hall to avoid attention until she reached the room. Once inside she changed back forms and studied the open pod. It was still covered in dried mud from the piranha pit. She looked inside the pod and saw a seat and a large empty compartment under it. As she looked around she had noticed footprints coming from out of the pod from stepping on mud that had dropped off the pod out toward the doorway.

The footprints were too small to belong to an inkling and they were coming from out of the pod.

"I wonder what was in this thing?" Cassie asked herself as she looked at the footprints and then back at the pod.

Cassie suddenly heard voices coming from down the hall. She panicked and saw that it was the jellyfish and police officer, come to investigate the pod.

Cassie squid formed and jumped through the air vent on the ceiling. She slithered through the ductwork and out of an air vent coming out in the main lobby. She sneaked away out of the front doors of the museum and changed form.

She looked back at the museum and pulled out her phone to inform Marie on what she found.

* * *

At the Arowana mall, the squid sisters, incognito were sitting at a table drinking sodas while looking and listening for anything that pertained to the events from the Shellendorf Institute. Just then Marie had received a call, it was Cassie, Marie answered the phone.

"Agent 3, have you found anything at the museum?" asked Marie.

"Not much, but apparently the thieves were trying to take this metal pod that was recently dug up, not sure how they could've gotten it though but a hatch on it was open. Nothing was in it, only a seat where someone could've sat in it and there were footprints coming from outside of it. Whatever was in it had smaller feet than an inkling's. The burglars must've taken whatever or whoever was in it," explained Cassie.

"huh, that's strange, I wonder what was in it? We have to keep searching, I'm not dropping the idea that this could be the octarians doings since they're so intrigued by human technology, but I also don't want to believe that the octarians are behind this. keep looking, agent." said Marie as she heard Cassie give a long agitated sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Fiiiine...I'll keep looking," said Cassie irritated.

Marie hung up and looked back at her cousin.

"soooo, what did she find?" asked Cassie with interest.

"Well, the burglars were after a large metal pod that was dug up at Pirahna pit. Cassie said the pod was open but empty. She thinks that something was in it, unsure if it was taken or escaped. I don't want to point the finger at the octarians, but I'm not sure who else it could be. I asked Cassie to keep looking for clues," said Marie answering Callie.

"I hope not Marie, I like that we're at peace with the octarians and that they won't have to steal the great zapfish again," said Callie with concern.

"I hope so too, Callie, but we can't always trust the octarians to hold on to their part of the deal. I'm hoping Cassie may get lucky and find a lead or something," said Marie sipping her soda.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Callie sipping her soda.

"I'm not sure Cal, All we can do is keep looking, We'll report back to gramps in a little while," said Marie.

The two of them finished their drinks and continued walking around the Arowana mall hoping to stumble into any kind of clues.

* * *

At a disclosed area, two inklings are pleading in front of an older inkling wearing a jacket and skull mask over his mouth. He had orange eyes and red tentacles that were tied in a ponytail. Behind the inkling were other inklings, not happy at what they were just informed by the two would-be burglars.

They were the Inkopolis crime syndicate. A crime organization that conducts gambling on turf wars, selling and distributing illegal turf weapons and replicas and stealing human artifacts on the black market, especially for the octarians. They have been running underground operations in Inkopolis for some time and learned to evade the authorities and paying petty criminals to do their deeds, keeping their hands clean from any kind of mishaps.

Their leader was known as Camper. He garnered the name from his past turf wars strategy when he was a turf war player. He climbed through the ranks of the turf war games until he made it to rank S, the highest rank an inkling could achieve. His S rank title overgrew his ego and he had no interest in being a team player. During the final match of a splat tournament, he violated multiple turf war rules and cheated to ensure that we won the tournament but this all caught up to him as he and his team were disqualified and his S rank evoked. He left turf war games and disappeared then forming his own team of delinquents that evolved into the Inkopolis crime syndicate committing all kinds of crimes around the city.

Camper had his arms crossed glaring at two inklings that were kneeling in front of him and his gang.

"Boss, we're sorry! We were trying to get the pod out of the museum and we almost got caught!" explained one of the inklings.

"Yeah...What were we supposed to do!?" said the other inkling defending themselves.

"Excuses! I should have you splatted for your incompetence! You can forget getting your payment!" shouted Camper.

"What! But we..." exclaimed the inkling.

"Get out of my sight!" commanded Camper pointing to the exit.

"Let's go before he does splat us!" pleaded the other inkling to his friend.

The inklings squid formed and rushed out of Camper's sight. Camper gave a long sigh with his eyes closed. "Idiots," said Camper.

"Sir, what do we do now? The octarians are expecting the metal pod that was dug up at the site," exclaimed one of his gang members with concern.

"You think, I don't know that?!" responded Camper in an agitated tone as the gang member was startled.

Camper gave a sigh and started to walk away. He then turned back to his gang with a serious look.

"Some of you go out and head to the museum when the coast is clear. I've been hearing rumors about a third person that was at the museum, we need to find out who it was and why they were there. If the octarians think we couldn't get the job done or do the job themselves, then they got another thing coming. They need not think we won't rat out that they may have sent agents into the city violating the treaty. Now Go!" shouted Camper at his gang.

A few of his gang members squid formed and left the area with others leaving toward the opposite direction with Camper.

That Evening, Cassie and the squid sisters headed back to Cuttlefish's to give a report.

So far the girls could not pick up anything on the museum event and felt the trail was turning cold. Exhausted from the day, Cassie soon left and headed home, annoyed by the fact she wasted her day on the case.

The squid sisters stayed over at Cuttlefish's until later and made their way back to Inkopolis disappointed that they came up with nothing.

Everyone went to bed hoping they have better luck the following day.

Meanwhile, Camper's gang was snooping around for anything that had to do with the failed job at the Shellendorf Institute.

The human, Blake was roaming the sewers under Inkopolis until he found a maintenance room to sleep in and grabbed a box he flattened to make a sleeping mat.

Blake was weary as a tear ran down his face scarred and confused at where he was and if he would see Cuttlefish and Mimi again.

Blake slowly closed his eyes and placed his hands under his head and drifted to sleep.


	18. Arc 2 Chapter 3

**Arc 2 Chapter 3**

The room was cold and the sounds of water dripping could be heard echoing down the tunnels. Buzzing could be heard from electrical equipment running in the room a figure was occupying. The figure was Blake and he had a hard night's sleep between trying to keep warm on the hard floor and flashbacks of the great turf war playing in his head.

Blake jolted up from his sleep after struggling and talking in his sleep. He was breathing hard after he envisioned being thrown in the cryostasis pod and being dropped to his death. Blake was sure he was as good as dead but he could remember the pod dropping and landing in a canyon as he watched Cuttlefish and the floating landmass slowly move away toward the shoreline.

The pod hit the wall of the canyon and stumbled further down toward the bottom, landing in a pool of mud. The pod was making noises and soon the intercom came on. "begin cryostasis process," said the intercom.

"NO! Cuttlefish! Mimi! Ammoses!" yelled Blake as he pushed against the hatch trying to open it, but it was no use.

The pod sunk in the mud and Blake could no longer see outside the hatch. The cryostasis process began and Blake sat back in the seat inside the pod. He began to feel fatigued and cold. Blake was fighting to keep his eyes open and gave a weak mumble "help!" as he finally fell asleep and was frozen yet again in the pod.

Flashbacks of the turf war ran through his head while he was in cryostasis. Memories of his friends and the bond that strengthened between him and Cuttlefish. Blake's head was hurting recalling the memories of his life when woke out of the pod and was thrown back in it.

Blake slowly got up and walked out of the maintenance room. He turned toward the tunnel hugging himself to keep warm as he sneezed. He thought about going back up to the surface to spy on the inhabitants of the city and find food as his stomach growled.

* * *

Cassie was walking through the plaza on her way to Crusty Sean's. The activity in the plaza was busy even though it would be shutting down in another week. Inklings were talking about turf wars and staying fresh as always. Cassie paid no mind to the shatter and made her way to Crusty Sean's and placed an order. She walked over to a table and played on her squidphone. After a while, without paying attention a figure sat down across from her. "Hey, there," the figure said.

Cassie took her attention off her phone and looked to the figure across the table from her.

"Hi!" the figure waved with a smile. The figure was a female inkling with yellow tentacles, but her tentacles were a different style. They were shorter in the front compared to Cassie's drooping down to her hips. She was wearing a yellow squid T-shirt and black thin shorts with white tennis shoes.

"Can I...help you?" asked Cassie raising an eyebrow.

"Just wanted to say hi...my name's Izzy, Izzy Beaks. I'm new here and I just came from Calamari County," said Izzy reaching her arm out for a handshake and a welcoming smile.

"Uh, Cassie, Cassie Humboldt. Nice to meet you," said Cassie awkwardly as she shook Izzy's hand.

"Cassie Humboldt!, I've heard of you. You're a well-known turf war player with a strong reputation back in the county as well as your family. I can't believe I'm meeting you right now!" said Izzy all giddy as she found out she shook hands with highly reputable turf war player.

"Umm...yeah," responded Cassie unsure how to make the recognition as she turned her head to hide her blush.

"Hey! You gotta teach me some moves for the turf war matches, pretty please!" pleaded Cassie as she had her arms out in a pleading position.

"Look, um Izzy. I don't play turf wars anymore," explained Cassie.

"What! But you're a legend in my town. Why'd you stop playing!?" asked a shocked Izzy.

Cassie gave a long sigh and looked back at the yellow-headed inkling with anticipation.

"Turf wars are pointless, no matter how hard you move up the ranks, it'll never pay off in the end. Take my advice, Izzy, just go back to the county before you get hurt physically and emotionally while you can," said Cassie with a dead serious look.

Izzy looked down, saddened by what the former turf war player said.

Cassie looked at Izzy feeling bad for what she had said and given a sigh as she closed her eyes.

"Izzy...I'm...sorry for what I said, I just... don't want you to go down the same road I did. working hard to get where you're at and for it all to be taken from you at the end. Since then I quit player turf war games," said Cassie in a melancholy tone.

"I'm sorry to hear that Cassie... It's just, I..." said Izzy as she was cut off.

"It's no problem, Izzy. That doesn't mean that won't happen to you," said Cassie trying to reassure Izzy.

Izzy finally gave a smile and Cassie gave a slight smile back.

"Hey, why don't we go hang out somewhere like the mall," suggested Cassie.

"Really? That would be so fresh!" shouted Izzy in joy with her fist in the air.

"Order up squido!" yelled Crusty Sean signaling to Cassie that her order was done.

Cassie turned toward Crusty Sean. "OK!" shouted Cassie as she turned back to Izzy.

"How about we go hangout after we eat," said Cassie.

* * *

The squid sisters were at their studio getting things packed up and recapping their past career and the turf war matches they sponsored. Marie was placing stuff in large trunks as Callie was in the wardrobe room going through clothes. As Callie was organizing, she looked at the sequin dress she wore at the final splatfest. Callie sighed then looked down wishing things would go back to the way they were.

The Plaza staying active and full of fresh and experienced turf war players. She and Marie giving the Inkopolis News and spectating turf matches. After a moment of rekindling the memories of her and Marie, she felt a hand on her shoulder from behind. It was Marie with a look of condolence.

"Cal, I know hard this is but we have to move on, the good ole days are gone but that doesn't mean it has to be bad," said Marie trying to comfort Callie as she turned towards her.

"I know Marie, It's hard to let go, I don't know what we're going to do after the square opens," said Callie sadly.

"Well, we could always go to Calamari County and visit with family, I've never had time to do that," said Marie.

"I guess so, Marie," said Callie depressingly.

"Hey, maybe you'll find I guy you could settle down with," said Marie with a slight smirk.

Callie's face turned pink and looked back at Marie. "Marie! You know we're just about related to everyone in the county," said Callie with a little exasperation.

"Just squiddin' ya Cal, but maybe the right guy will come along," said Marie with her smirk replaced by a slight smile.

"I just... haven't seen the right guy who likes me for who I am... and not a squid sister," said Callie.

"The right guy will come along, and you'll know it," said Marie.

Callie looked at her cousin with a warming smile and hugged her.

"Marie, you always know how to lift my spirits up," said Callie.

"That's what I'm here for, now let's finish clearing the studio," said Marie as they got back to work.

Hours passed and the squid sisters left the studio and made their way down the walkway towards the plaza. They were soon crowded by fans that were asking questions and wanted autographs. After a moment of publicity and picture taking, the squid sisters waved by to their fans and continued.

"(Sigh) That's something I won't miss," said Marie.

"aaww... come on Marie, you know you will, besides I'll miss the smiling faces and enthusiasm of all the turf players we see and meet, (sigh) things aren't going to be the same without it," said Callie.

"Cal, I think you're going to miss the attention," said Marie with a slight smirk.

"Coming from someone who won the final splatfest, but nooo, I'll miss the plaza and everyone else," says Callie.

Callie remained silent looking down in thought. "Cal... Cal...," Marie trying to get her cousin's attention.

"Huh? What is it, Marie?" Callie exclaimed as she jumped back in reality.

"It's just you looked like you were stuck in thought," said Marie with a little concern. Callie looked back up at her cousin. "Look, let's just go hang out somewhere and get our mind off things," said Marie putting her hand on Callie's shoulder.

"Alright, Marie," said Callie in relief.

The two soon left the plaza to find a place to get their thoughts distracted and mind off of things.

* * *

Blake was climbing out of a manhole and closed the lid. He looked around as he made his way down an alley and the noise of the city was startling him, still unsure about where he was.

He slowly walked toward the end and heard people talking, so he got behind a small wall and looked. It was a blue tentacled inkling talking to some kind of creature that wasn't an inkling but had yellowish skin and spikes growing out of its head. It was wearing a colorful poncho with green pants and he was sitting at the end of the alleyway.

"Got whatcha need, mate?" the creature said to the inkling.

"Yeah, I think so, thanks Spyke," the inkling replied back.

"Well, Luv, I'll be heading out then, Gonna be leaving since the plaza won't be the turf player hangout anymore but my little cousin Murch will be coming down to the new square though," said Spyke.

"I can't wait until it opens, I heard about the new Deca Tower and that the Inkopolis News will be given to two new idols at the new studio, It's too bad the squid sisters are leaving. I wonder who's gonna take their place?" asked the inkling.

"Don't know luv, I'm gonna miss em too, (sigh) all well," said Spyke as he threw his hands up.

"See ya, Spike," waved the inkling as she walked away.

Blake peeked around the small wall only for Spyke to catch his movement as he turned his head toward the alley. Blake quickly ducked back.

"What was that? Thought I saw somethin'," said Spyke as he had had his head turned toward the alleyway.

Spyke got up and stretched and paused.

"Ah, probably just seein' things, I think I've been here too long, glad I'm leavin'," said Spyke as he turned back toward the plaza and walked away to be followed by the rock-like creatures that were huddled around him when he was sitting down.

Blake gave a sigh. "That was close, I gotta be more careful," said Blake as he got up from behind the wall.

Blake could see inklings walking around the plaza. The smell from Crusty Sean's was driving him crazy as he was starving. He fought his temptation to go to the plaza and decided to hang back and wait until the coast was clear.

Blake decided to head back down the alley to the other end and came across a large opened up urban area with an overpass running across it. There appeared to be no one in sight as he slowly made his through the area.

As he walked across the built-up area, he thought of a way to disguise himself, as not to draw attention. He looked around pilfering through trash cans and other items lying around. He came across a pair of goggles laying on the ground and took what looked to be an old piece of cloth and made it into a cloak to hide part of his body.

"Maybe now, I won't arouse any suspicion," said Blake.

He continued onward, after a while of more walking he heard voices coming from in front of him. he rushed behind a wall and peered around the corner to see two inkling girls sitting on a ledge across the opening from where he was at. One inkling girl had long green tentacles sporting a white t-shirt with a logo on it wearing black shorts. The other one had short yellow tentacles and was sporting a yellow t-shirt with writing on it and also wearing black shorts.

"Being just the two them, maybe I could talk to them," Blake said to himself.

Blake pondered if he should reveal himself and make contact with two inkling girls. So Blake decided to walk up and get their attention, only to a scream from the two inklings and get an unexpected reaction from the greeting.

* * *

Cassie and Izzy made their way to Urchin Underpass. It was a large built turf war stage with an overpass running across it. Cassie and Izzy squid jumped across platforms and looked over the stage.

"Wow! So, this is one of the turf war stages?" asked an excited Izzy.

"Yeah, not sure if It'll be open after, everyone leaves for the new square and tower though," said Cassie.

"It's a shame, This was one of my favorite turf war stages, It's where I got my first start on turf wars, I'm going to miss it," said Cassie as she sighed.

"I hate to hear that, but maybe they'll have cooler turf war stages when they open the new square," said Izzy.

"It's alright, It's not like I play turf wars anyway," said Cassie.

The two girls sat down on a ledge facing the turf war area. Cassie just remained quiet and eyed the area she once played turf wars in. Izzy soon broke the silence as she turned and looked at Cassie with concern.

"Cassie?" asked Izzy.

"Yeah?" responded Cassie.

"You think you'll ever get back to playing in turf wars again?" asked Izzy.

Cassie turned and looked at Izzy for a couple of seconds. Cassie gave a sigh and looked back at the turf war stage. "I... don't know, It's just... I think back at the splat tournament I lost and my ex-boyfriend," said Cassie in a slightly distressed tone.

"ex-boyfriend?" asked Izzy raising an eyebrow.

"oh, I never told you about Ross, did I," said Cassie as she turned her head back to Izzy.

Izzy shook her head and a curious look on her face.

"(Sigh) Ross... was a competitive turf war player. He had his own team and made his way through the turf player ranks rather quickly. All he did was live and breathe turf war battling. I met him after my team and his team battled here in Urchin Underpass. His team won and my team lost. As I made my way back to the lobby he asked me my name and said how good of a turf war player I was. He even offered me to play on his team," said Cassie.

"So did you join his team?" asked Izzy. Cassie gave Izzy a hard look and turned her head back to the turf war stage in front of them.

"(sigh) No... I didn't. I wanted to stay with my friends. He was Ok about it, so he asked me out instead. I said yes and we were seeing one another for quite a while," said Cassie.

"So, what happened?" asked Izzy anxiously.

"So we played in the splat tournament. My team managed to get to the finals as well as his. It was my team vs his. My team put up a fight and we thought we would win until one of my teammates told me about Ross's spawn point camping strategy. he was splatting my teammates as they came out of the spawn point. I didn't believe them at first until another teammate of mine said the same thing. I was upset and couldn't believe Ross would do such an unsporty move like that to win the match. He put his turf war reputation ahead of my relationship with him when he finally splats me as I was talking to them," said Cassie upset.

"What a jerk! I can't believe he would do that to you," said Izzy in shock.

"That's not the worst part, He just used me thinking that I would go easy on him and his team since he was my boyfriend. When he and his team won, I also found out he was bribing turf war officials and using splat armor in the matches to win. I confronted Ross on it and told the head of the turf war games about it. Ross and his team were disqualified and lost his rank, so nobody won the splat tournament and Ross hated me. He broke up with me and left. No one has heard from him ever since," said Cassie.

Izzy looked back at the turf war stage and gave a sigh. "I hate to hear that but you shouldn't let something like that stop you from competing in turf wars. Ross might have been a jerk and a cheater, but you have to put that behind you, Cassie," said Izzy trying to reassure Cassie.

Cassie looked back at Izzy with a saddened look. "you really think I should," asked Cassie.

"Heck yeah!" said Izzy with a fist pump.

"You remind me of a friend, (Sigh) Alright Izzy I'll do it!" said Cassie as she hugged Izzy.

Izzy blushed as Cassie hugged her. Never imagining one of her favorite turf war players hugging her and accepting her advice.

After a moment Izzy spotted a figure over Cassie's shoulder on the ground below. The figure was tall while it was wearing goggles over its face and a cloak cover its upper body and head.

"Ca...Ca...Cassie! What is that!" yelped Izzy as she turned Cassie to the figure.

The figure had stopped and had a puzzled look on its face.

"What the! I don't know Izzy but get behind me!" commanded Cassie.

"But what about you!" asked Izzy with distress.

"I'll be fine Izzy! Just go!" yelled Cassie.

The figure soon had a worried look on its face and it started to back up.

"Hey! Stop right there!" shouted Cassie as she jumped down and pointed, what looked like a water gun at the figure.

The figure put his hands up and started to sweat. It gulped and thought about how to escape from this situation.

* * *

"Crap what do I do!" Blake thought as he was in a dilemma with the inkling pointing a weapon at him.

The inkling glared at him with her finger on the trigger.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" commanded the green tentacled inkling girl.

"I can't give away my identity, I need to think of something," Blake thought to himself.

"Answer me! Or I'll splat you where you stand!" yelled the inkling as she was ready to shoot him.

Blake gulped and was running out of time. He soon thought of the only thing he could think of. Blake reached into his pocket and threw his brass squid badge that was given to him from Cuttlefish years ago, at the inkling girl's head.

The inkling yelped at the impact of the hard squid badge and Blake ran as fast as he could away from the inkling and back toward the alley on the other side of the turf war stage.

"Ow...What the, Hey! Get back here!" yelled the inkling girl after getting up and rubbing the bruise on her head. She squid formed and chased after Blake. When she caught up with him she changed back to her bipedal form and shot ink at him. The ink hit him in the back and Blake yelped "AAHH!"

Blake was almost knocked down but he stumbled up and kept running. The inkling was shocked that the figure didn't splat from the shot but could tell he was hurt. He had almost reached the alleyway when the inkling girl squid jumped in front of him and aimed her weapon at him. Blake came to a grinding halt.

The inkling girl fired another shot and just as she did Blake threw his cloak at her. The cloak covered up the inkling girl as she struggled to throw it off and Blake leaped over her back kicking her towards the ground. Blake managed to get away and ran down the alley and climbed down the manhole back into the sewers.

The inkling girl finally got the cloak off her and shook her head. She frantically looked around and the figure was nowhere in sight. She ran down the alleyway hoping to catch the figure but to no avail, he was gone.

The inkling girl kneeled down and punched the pavement in frustration. "Dammit! It's gone!" she shouted in anger.

Just then she heard footsteps run up from the turf war area she ran from. She turned around with her weapon pointed in the direction of the footsteps.

"Hey! It's just me!" screamed Izzy with her hands up.

"Izzy?! (sigh) Don't run up behind me like that!" shouted Cassie.

"Sorry... are you ok?" asked Izzy.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Cassie rubbing her head from the squid badge being thrown at her.

"What was that thing?" asked Izzy.

"I don't know, but my ink didn't incapacitate it, I wonder why?" said a confused Cassie.

"Here, it threw this at you," said Izzy giving Cassie the squid badge.

"This looks like a squid badge... but why did it have this?" Cassie wondered.

"A what?" asked Izzy.

Cassie then got nervous and changed the subject not wanting Izzy to find out she was squidbeak agent.

"It's nothing, Umm, why don't we head back to the plaza before it gets late. I gotta make a phone call anyway. Go ahead I'll catch up," Cassie told Izzy as she nodded and headed down the alleyway towards the plaza.

When Izzy was out of sight. Cassie got on her squidphone as she examined the old brass squid charm. The ringing finally stopped and a voice could be heard on the phone. Hello, agent 3?" the voice said.

"Hey, agent 2, umm, I need to talk to you and agent 1 in private before dark, when you get a chance. It's urgent," said Cassie.

"Ok, meet us at Bluefin Depot at 6:00 tonight," said agent 2.

"Alright, I'll see you then," said Cassie as she hung up the phone and placed the squid charm in her pocket.

Cassie left and headed to the plaza to catch up with Izzy. Thoughts were running through her head about the mysterious figure and if it was the one at the Shellendorf Institute and why it had possession of a squid badge. She shook her head to get back into reality as she squid formed and slithered through the gate gaining access to the plaza.

* * *

Blake was panting down inside the sewer relieved that he escaped from the squid girl and that his cover wasn't blown.

"That was too close!" exclaimed Blake as he walked toward the room he was sleeping in.

"I better stay out of sight for a little while, I don't want to draw any more attention, but I gotta find some food soon," said Blake placing his hand over his stomach.

Blake made his way to the old maintenance room to rest. He laid on the crushed cardboard box and stared at the ceiling.

"I hated that I had to lose my squid charm but I had no choice or I would get caught. That inkling girl looked like she was in no mood to talk," said Blake to himself.

Blake gave a long sigh and rolled over in depression.

"I hope I can get back to Cuttlefish and Mimi, I hope they defeated Octavio and saved the valley and the inklings," said Blake.

A tear ran down Blake's face as he thought about his friends and if he would ever get back. Blake finally closed his eyes and fell asleep exhausted from his hostile encounter with the squid girl.

Blake's first impression on the inklings living in the city didn't go well, It seemed better that he stayed out of sight and sneak around when he got the chance. There was no telling what the inklings would do to him if they ever found out he was a human. They didn't seem like the inklings he knew back in the valley and Blake desperately wanted to go back home.


	19. Arc 2 Chapter 4

**Arc 2 Chapter 4**

It was getting late as the sun was setting on Inkopolis. The plaza was still filled with turf war players though shops were closing early making final preparations for the square opening. Inklings were hanging out talking about turf wars, the latest fashion and the square opening as usual.

Cassie was walking through the plaza and made her way to the tram station. She got on board and made her way to the Bluefin Depot on the other side of the city. When she got off the at the station near the location she squid formed and slithered to the abandoned area.

The Bluefin Depot was an abandoned coal mining area that was used as a turf war arena. Cassie remembered playing turf wars at it some time ago and had to often worry about inklings sniping from the railway that ran over the area. She looked around and seen that area was clear with not a soul around until she spotted two figures on a platform in front of her.

Cassie recognized them as Marie and Callie in their disguises. She squid jumped to the platform to meet with them.

"Agent 3 I'm glad you made it, now what can you tell us?" asked Marie.

"Well, I encountered a mysterious figure at Urchin Overpass, it had its face covered by a pair of goggles, and part of its body was hidden by a cloak. I tried to subdue it but my ink didn't stop it though I could tell it was hurt. Oh... and it threw this at my head when It ran from me. It looks like a squid badge," said Cassie as she handed the brass squid badge to Marie.

"That does look like a squid badge," said Callie as she looked at the badge that Marie was holding.

"This doesn't make any sense, how on earth did it have possession of this though it looks old and its made out of brass instead of plastic like the one I issued you," said Marie as she examined the brass squid badge.

Cassie shrugged unsure why the mysterious figure had a squid badge.

"I think we ought to take it to gramps, maybe he would know something," said Callie to Marie.

"I think you're right Callie If anyone would know it would be gramps," said Marie.

"What else can you tell me about the figure," asked Marie as she faced Cassie.

"It was kinda tall to be an inkling or even an octoling, I mean my ink didn't have a lot of effect on it when I shot it in the back when it ran away from me, unless it was wearing splat armor which I doubt it did," explained Cassie.

"Where did it go?" asked Marie.

"I lost in an alleyway on the far side of the overpass that led to the plaza, I don't think it would have run through the plaza as busy as it was, it disappeared in the alley somewhere, I'm not sure," said Cassie.

"This is getting strange, I'm wondering if this is the same creature that got away at the Shellendorf Institute, so many questions and not enough answers," said Marie as she pondered.

"We appreciate all the information you gave us an agent, will inform Cuttlefish about what you saw, hopefully, we'll get to the bottom of this," said Callie to Cassie.

"Alright agent 3, you can head home now, me and agent 1 are gonna take this to Cuttlefish maybe he can tell us something about this old badge," said Marie.

Cassie nodded and squid jumped off the platform and headed back to the tram station while the squid sisters vanished off the platform and headed to Cuttlefish's. What they didn't know was that two figures were watching them eavesdropping on their conversation. The figures appeared to be two inklings hiding behind a container below the platform the three were talking on.

One inkling sneered and looked back at the other inkling.

"We need to tell Camper about this immediately," said the sneering inkling.

"Then let's go," said the other inkling.

The two inklings squid formed and slithered into the shadows out of sight.

* * *

Cassie finally made it home at Flounder Heights. It was a neighborhood full of apartment complexes and small parks. As she made it toward her apartment she saw a yellow tentacled squid girl waiting for her, it was Izzy.

"Hey, Cass! where've you been? I've been trying to call you!" exclaimed Izzy slightly frustrated.

Cassie pulled out her phone and saw that Izzy had called and left messages.

"Um... I was busy with something, sorry I didn't answer," said Cassie as she downed her head rubbing the back of it.

"It's alright... did you ever find out who that figure was or anything," asked Izzy.

"no, I haven't found out anything," said Cassie in a meek tone.

"Is something the matter, your acting odd," asked Izzy.

"Hmm... It's nothing, Hey, you wanna come in and watch a movie or something?" asked Cassie trying to change the subject.

"Sure!" said Izzy happily.

The two of them walked in Cassie's apartment. In the lobby, they made their way to the elevator. Cassie pushed the button and made their way up to one of the upper floors and got out. Down the hallway, they made it inside Cassie's apartment.

Cassie's apartment was not very big consisting of a large den, small kitchen looking into the den. two doors on the right side of the den. the door on the left went into the bedroom while the door on the right into the bathroom.

In the den was a couch looking toward a flat-screen tv perched on the wall alongside a bookshelf. The apartment seemed overall average like the rest of the other ones.

"Wow, this is nice Cassie, I can't wait until I can afford my own apartment," said Izzy looking around the room.

"Wait, you don't have your own apartment, then where have you been staying?" asked Cassie curiously.

"With some friends of mine, but they had to go out town for a family emergency back at the county," answered Izzy.

"Well, you could stay with me then, if you want," said Cassie.

"I can, oh thank you, Cass," said Izzy in excitement as she rushed to hug Cassie.

Cassie gave a grin and rubbed the back of her head.

After a while, they got done watching a movie as they were sitting on the couch. Cassie stretched and got off the couch to the kitchen to get her and Izzy a soda. Izzy looked over toward the bookshelf as a book was hanging out from the rest of them. Izzy was curious and walked over towards the bookshelf.

She picked it up and opened the book unable to read it. "Cass, what kind of book is this, I can't read it and I don't recognize any of the letters," asked a puzzled Izzy.

Cassie closed the fridge with two sodas in her hand and looked over the bar towards Izzy.

"Oh... I think that's a human book that was found at one of the excavation sites, I can't read it neither since it's in human language", explained Cassie.

"A human book? Then why keep it if you can't read it, shouldn't it belong in a museum or something," said Izzy.

Cassie walked back into the den towards Izzy and laid the sodas down on the small table.

"I've been fascinated by human artifacts and history since I learned about them in school. Both inklings and the octarians don't know much about them besides digging up their old technology and artifacts. They were lucky enough to dig up a fossil of a human not too long ago and put it in the Shellendorf Institute," said Cassie.

"wow, a human fossil? I wonder what they were like?" asked Izzy.

"nobody knows, we can't read any of their books or magazines they keep finding, no one can decipher their language," explained Cassie.

"wouldn't it be cool to meet one and learn about them," said Izzy as she put the book back on the shelf.

"Yeah, I guess it would, though the fossil at the institute showed they had small heads and were taller than an inkling," said Cassie but just then she froze in thought.

After a moment Cassie had a concerned look on her face as she was stuck in thought. Izzy looked at her with concern after a moment she responded.

"Cass? Cass?... CASS!" shouted Izzy bumping Cassie back in reality out of thought.

Cassie shook her head and turned back to Izzy.

"Cass, what's wrong?" asked a worried Izzy.

"I just thought about the fossil and that cloaked figure we saw at Urchin Overpass, but that would be impossible," explained Cassie.

"what do you mean Cass?" asked Izzy.

"That metal pod in the back room could've been that... no way, humans have been extinct for thousands of years," mumbled Cassie.

"What did you say, Cass?" asked Izzy.

"It's nothing, Let's get ready for bed I'm getting tired," said Cassie as she changed the subject.

Cassie grabbed two sleeping bags and threw them on the floor in the den. Izzy laid on one and Cassie on the other. The two of them stayed awake for a moment until Izzy broke the silence as she sat up from her sleeping bag.

"Hey, Cass," asked Izzy.

"yeah," responded Cassie.

"Thank you for letting me stay over," said a grateful Izzy.

"You're welcome Izzy," said Cassie.

"Hey, Cass, what do you wanna do tomorrow?" asked Izzy.

"I'm not sure, I heard the square will be finally opening tomorrow, but the new tower for the turf war games won't open until a week after the opening since the great zapfish has to move but the stores will be open though," said Cassie.

"Cool, I'd love that. I still haven't bought a weapon yet or practiced for the turf war games since I've been here," said Izzy.

"well we can head to Sheldon's new store and get you a starter kit then head over to the tutorial area for training if you want," said Cassie.

"Alright, I'd appreciate it, Cass. I can't wait until tomorrow gets here!" said Izzy excitedly as she threw her arms in the air and fell back down.

"Goodnight, Cass," said Izzy as she turned over toward Cassie and gave a wide smile.

"Goodnight, Izzy," said Cassie as she smiled back and rolled over.

The two of them finally fell asleep eager for the next day.

* * *

While all of Inkopolis was asleep one figure down below was having a hard time sleeping. Blake was unable to sleep on his back due to the stinging from when the green tentacled inkling girl chased him threw the overpass area and shot him in the back with her ink gun.

Blake was jerking around in his sleep as he was trying not to lay on his back.

"Dang! that ink gun that inkling shot me with stung, I'm glad I'm not an inkling or I would've been splatted for sure. I didn't expect such a hostile encounter like that. I didn't mean to scare them. guess they've never met a human before," said Blake as he rubbed his back and gave a long sigh.

Blake's stomach growled as he pressed it.

"I'm gonna die of starvation if I don't get something to eat soon, I'll have to try and sneak past all the inklings in that plaza and hunt for some food, I've no choice but to risk getting caught and if I do maybe they'll let me explain myself. hopefully, I won't get shot at," said Blake.

Blake yawned and tried to lay down. "But, it can wait in the morning, I gotta try and get some sleep seems like the pain is starting to go away," said Blake as he turned over on his back clinching.

Blake's eyes slowly started to close and he finally fell asleep.

Blake was dreaming about his time with Cuttlefish and Mimi and the others. recounting the good times and the events that conspired in the great turf war. After a while, the memories had stopped and a new vision had occurred.

Blake was seeing three humans that had landed on a beach on a life raft. One was an older male in his 40s as well as an older woman around the same age with a young girl that looked like she was in her teens. They got off the raft and looked around on the beach.

"Dad! I don't see Blake or that metal pod he was in," said the young girl.

"Hopefully we might see his pod floating somewhere offshore," answered the older man.

"James, I hope Blake is alright," said the older woman approaching the man with a distressed look.

"Me too dear, me too," said the man as he hugged the woman.

"What do we do now?" asked the girl.

"I'll see if we can get in contact with the Ark, I'm gonna have to head back to the rescue shuttle and use the comms on it to get a hold of the main ship, I'm hoping someone will answer before they all go into cryostasis," said the man as he walked back to the raft and pushed it back into the sea with him jumping back on it.

"Be careful James!" shouted the woman as the man looked and waved to them as he drifted off toward the floating small ship that crashed in the water they were on.

The man slowly made his way back to the rescue shuttle. Onboard he headed to the cockpit and got on the comms.

"Hello! Hello! This is doctor James Carter. I and my family are stuck on a deserted island. he had obtained a rescue shuttle onboard the Ark Polaris to retrieve a pod that my son had ejected from the ship and landed back down towards the earth. I and my family need to be rescued immediately before the ship and its crew goes into cryostasis. Please send a rescue team immediately," reported the man but no response was given.

"I hope someone up there heard my message and that it's not late," said the man in distress.

The man walked out of the cockpit to notice that water was entering the shuttle. It was slowly sinking and the man panicked.

The man frantically grabbed food, water, and supplies and threw them on the life raft. The shuttle was soon completely submerged and the man swam out of the side hatch and clung on to the side of the raft catching his breath.

The man soon climbed aboard the raft and made it back to the island.

He jumped off the life raft once he got on shore and bent over from exhaustion.

"James! are you alright, we saw the shuttle sinking and we feared the worst," said the woman as she raced towards him hugging him.

"I'm ok! I called the Ark and told them about the situation but I didn't get a response back, hopefully, someone heard it and they didn't go into cryostasis yet," explained the man.

"Dad! I was worried," said the girl as she was hugging him.

"don't you worry, I did manage to get everything off the shuttle before it sank. We'll be able to have enough supplies and food surely before the ship sends a rescue team down here to come and get us," said the man with assurance.

"I hope so James," said the woman.

"Well, let's keep a lookout for that metal pod and establish a shelter for now," commanded the man.

The three of them scattered about to retrieve stuff for building the shelter with and to search for the metal pod Blake was in. The vision fades to black and Blake soon wakes up.

Blake sat up and held his head. "I had one of those visions again, like back when I was with Cuttlefish... oh my head, when will this end, I just wanna go home," said Blake as tears started to form. He sulked for a moment and got up. He decided to try and go look around hoping to find food as his stomach growled.

* * *

The squid sisters were asleep in the studio but they were soon woken up by an alarm clock. Callie moaned and turned then finally sat up to turn the alarm off and looked toward Marie who was laying down facing away from her.

"Marie, we gotta get up," said Callie as she was rubbing her cousin.

"mmm... do we have to," mumbled Marie.

"yes, we gotta go see gramps soon and the plaza will be closing today for the square opening," explained Callie as she was pulling on Marie's ear.

Oww... Callie, don't do that!" said Marie holding her ear in frustration.

"Sorry Marie but you wouldn't get up," said Callie apologetically.

"(sigh) what am I gonna do with you? Alright I'll get up," said Marie as she got out of bed.

The squid sisters got ready and got dressed in their disguises and made their way to the main studio floor. Once there, they looked around in distress knowing they were going to miss giving the news for Inkopolis.

"(sigh) I'm gonna miss this place," said Marie.

"Me too Marie, I wish we could stay," said a saddened Callie.

"Cal, you know we can't. The plaza won't be open anymore and we won't be giving the news or announcements of turf matches," said Marie aggravated that they had to leave.

A tear ran down Callie's face as she started to sniffle. her cousin looked at her and felt guilt from the tone she gave Callie.

"Cal, I'm sorry, I didn't mean too..." said Marie comforting her cousin.

"It's ok Marie, I know you're frustrated at the fact that we lost our jobs and all," said Callie hugging her cousin back.

"I at least we don't have to worry about getting mobbed by fans anymore and see family more often," said Marie.

"Yeah I guess so, It's gonna feel strange, I mean not going on missions since we're at peace with the octarians," said Callie looking back at Marie.

"Yeah no more excitement, no more adventure," said Marie.

"No more working with gramps," said Callie in a saddened tone.

"speaking of gramps we better leave and go talk to him about the squid badge Cassie had gotten from that thing she chased, we're supposed to talk with him at the storm drain near the vending machines," said Marie as they walked out of the studio and down toward the plaza.

The two walked across the plaza and looked around. The plaza was vacant and the stores were closed even Crusty Sean's.

"Man this place feels like a ghost town, It's strange it's not busy like it used to be," said Marie.

"Yeah, it's kinda creepy," said Callie.

The two made their way to the storm drain and were greeted by Captain Cuttlefish.

"Well grandsquids did you find out anything?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Well sort of, Agent 3 reported to us about a strange cloaked figure she encountered at Urchin Underpass. The creature had its face concealed with googles so we don't know what it was. She said it was tall so that may leave out it being an inkling or octoling. It also threw this at her as it got away," said Marie as she handed the squid badge to Cuttlefish.

"Also when Agent 3 shot it in the back the ink seemed to have little effect on it and she lost it down an alleyway leading to the plaza," explained Marie.

Cuttlefish examined the old brass badge and a look of utter shock appeared on his face.

"Gramps, what's wrong!" exclaimed Callie in worry.

"This... can't be..." panned Cuttlefish as he stared hard at the badge.

"Gramps, what is it?" asked Marie with concern.

Cuttlefish remained silent for a moment not saying anything until.

"I wanna be left alone for a little while," said Cuttlefish as he downed his head and clutched the squid badge.

"What? Gramps I..." said a confused Marie.

"Just go! Just go report to agent 3 and try and get more information on the figure she encountered," commanded Cuttlefish.

"But Gramps, what is this all..." exclaimed a confused Marie as she was cut off.

"That's an order!" shouted Cuttlefish pointing with his bamboo cane.

Cuttlefish hoped back into the storm drain as the girls turned away.

"What was that about?" asked Marie still pondering at what had gotten over Cuttlefish.

"I've never seen him like that, what's going on," said Callie with concern.

"I don't know Cal, but let's give him some space, maybe later we can get to the bottom of this," said Marie as her Callie walked out of the plaza and onto the tram.

Meanwhile, Cuttlefish hoped out of the storm drain back at his shack in Octo Valley. he walked into the shack and headed to a dresser in his bedroom. He pulled out an old photo at the bottom of the drawer. He looked at the photo of him, Octavio, and Blake from long ago. He then held up the brass squid badge in his other hand.

"It can't be bucko, this doesn't make any sense, your supposed to be dead," said a saddened Cuttlefish as a tear ran down his cheek before he sat on his bed looking at the photo.

* * *

That same morning Blake had made his way to the plaza from the alleyway before the squid sisters met up with Cuttlefish. He saw that the plaza was empty and took this opportunity to look around for food. He looked around and was shocked that the plaza wasn't busy as it has been.

"I wonder what happened to everybody?" Blake pondered.

As he walked he saw stores and a studio off to the side with a walkway. He also noticed the tall tower overlooking the plaza with the great zapfish curled around it. "Woah, what the! Wait, is that the... It can't be! That's the great zapfish! But the octarians had it and... wait..." said Blake as he was bewildered and took another look around the plaza.

"This place looks familiar to me, but I've never been here. Something strange is going on," said Blake as he then heard a door open. It was coming from the studio to his right.

Blake panicked and ran behind a trash can. He saw two tall inkling girls walk out of the studio and down the walkway. They appeared different from other inkling girls he had seen. One had black and magenta tentacles that were tied up and the other had shorter grey and green tentacles. Their eyes were gold-colored with an X-shaped pupil as well as their ears were longer and more pointed.

"They look different from other inklings, maybe I better stay out of sight, I don't want another encounter like the last one," said Blake to himself.

The both of them walked across the plaza talking to themselves until they got to the far side of the plaza toward some vending machines and a storm drain.

All of a sudden another figure popped open the storm drain and climbed up. It appeared to be another inkling also different in appearance. He appeared much older than the females with a beard and walking cane. He was wearing tattered clothes with medals on them. He was also wearing a captain's hat that somehow looked familiar to Blake.

The older looking inkling was talking to the tall female inklings. He was soon given an item that he couldn't make out from the grey-headed inkling. The older bearded inkling was looking at the item and sounded upset. He soon pointed to the girl inklings to leave and went back in the storm drain as the female inklings left out of sight.

Blake was unsure about the situation and came out when the inklings finally left. He thought about the captain's hat on the old inkling and wondered for a moment.

"It couldn't be," Blake said to himself. Blake shook his head and focused back on finding food. He went over towards Crusty Sean's but it was closed and there was nothing inside.

Blake's stomach growled as he looked around desperately. He then remembered the vending machines he spotted near the storm drain and rushed toward them.

Blake looked at the vending machines and saw small snacks in them. He tried to reach inside and grab a snack but he was unsuccessful. He then attempted to shake the machine but was still unsuccessful.

Blake was frustrated and saw a brick lying on the ground near him. He soon picked it up and threw it at the machine. It bounced off the glass and came back at him but Blake managed to duck in time. Blake turned back to the machine and kicked it as he walked away. He then heard a snack fall down and land on the bottom tray. He perked up and ran back to the machine to grab the snack and ripped it open.

Blake took a bite and spit it out. "What is this!" said Blake in disgust.

Blake took a look at the bag and saw that it was kelp chips. Blake was unsure what kelp chips were but he didn't care for them. He threw the bag down and walked away with his stomach growling.

As Blake was walking he thought about the old inkling he saw with the captain's hat thinking somehow he was familiar but unsure why. Blake continued until he made his way to another alleyway hoping to find food somewhere else as he was getting weaker and more tired.


	20. Arc 2 Chapter 5

**Arc 2 Chapter 5**

The room was dark and cold. Voices could be heard echoing through the walls of what appeared to be an abandoned building. Two squids could be slithering through the doorway of the building going inside. The squids made their way down a dark hallway and towards the basement. When they got into the basement they changed back to their bipedal forms and walked toward the center of the basement and were faced by more inklings.

"Well, what did you find out?" asked a masked inkling that confronted the other two with a gang of inklings behind him.

"Camper, we found out about the figure that escaped from the institute a while back," said one of the inklings.

"So, what is it?" demanded Camper.

"An inkling tried to subdue it at the Urchin Underpass but wasn't phased by the ink that was shot at it, They couldn't tell what it was being it wore a disguise that covered its face and body," said one of the inklings.

"That's all the information you ink heads could get!" said Camper in irritation.

"not exactly, the inkling that tried to subdue the creature was none other than your ex-girlfriend, she was talking to two other inklings but I didn't recognize them," said one of the inklings.

"Reeeally? hmm...interesting, maybe we should pay her a visit then," said Camper raising an eyebrow sneering.

Camper pulled out two bags of coins and threw them in front of the two informative inklings.

"Thanks, Camper," the two inklings said.

"Now, get outta here, I've got a squid girl to deal with," said Camper as the two inklings squid formed and left.

Camper turned towards his gang with his hands behind his back.

"You heard them, my ex-girlfriend Cassie is the last one to see the mysterious creature, I'm assuming it was in that metal pod the octolings badly wanted back at the Shellendorf Institute. Let's see if she knows anything else then and I know exactly where she stays," said Camper with a sinister smile as the inkling squid formed and headed off.

"Looks like me and you will going out again whether you like it or not," said Camper as he squid formed and left along with his gang.

* * *

The squid sisters had left the plaza hours ago unsure about their gramps behavior. They decided to head to the new square and look around seeing the new stores and Deca tower. The great zapfish had not made to the new tower yet until tomorrow. The square was still under final preparations for the opening and didn't have crowds of inklings in it yet.

Marie then spotted the new studio on the side of the street and looked through the window.

"So this is the new studio, I wonder who will be replacing us?" said Marie.

Just then a figure walked up behind them and said, "Hey! You know the studio is not open yo," in an uppity tone.

The squid sisters turned around and looked down at a short inkling with white and pink tentacles and gold eyes with x-shaped pupils similar to theirs. She was wearing a white zip-up jacket with pink tight pants. her boots matched her jacket and she was wearing a white and pink crown on her head that also matched her clothes.

"Who are you?" asked Marie.

"I'm pearl yo, also known as the MC princess," said pearl giving her signature pose.

"Pearl?" said Marie confused.

"you never heard of me! What rock did you crawl out from? you know what, you do seem familiar, you sure we haven't met before," question Pearl looking hard at Marie.

"Yeah I'm sure, it's just uh... were new and just exploring the new square," said Marie nervously.

"Hmmm...ok, well you're looking at the star of the new pop duo that's gonna be giving the Inkopolis news, I just might sign an autograph for you," said Pearl.

"I hate that my cousin Marie and Callie couldn't give the news reports anymore, all well, what can I say, the people want fresh new pop idols," said Pearl bending her arms up.

"ummm...that's ok we gotta get goin'" said Marie as she was in rush to get away from pearl.

Pearl glared at them with her arms crossed as they were walking away. "Hmmm... I'm pretty sure I know her from somewhere, pfff, all well," said Pearl as she threw her arms up and walked into the new studio.

"(sigh) that was close if pearl is gonna give the Inkopolis news they in a rude awakening," said Marie.

"So that was your cousin pearl, I almost didn't recognize her in that outfit," said Callie.

"Seems she's always changing music genres, now she's a pop princess, what next?" said Marie.

"So when will we ask gramps about that squid badge?" asked a concerned Callie.

"tonight I guess, hopefully, he'll be over that fit he had, he knows something but why won't he tell us," said Marie.

"Maybe it has something to do with his past, he did fight in the great turf war," said Callie trying ease the tension.

"Yeah, he's told us that story about a hundred times, but he didn't seem bent out of shape about it, I think there's something more to it," said Marie.

"gramps wouldn't hide anything from us, would he," said a concerned Callie.

"I don't know Cal, gramps isn't always straightforward on stuff, you should know that being out in the field, he's always leaving stuff out," said Marie.

The squid sisters soon left the square and were greeted by a figure. The squid sisters turned toward the figure in front of them. It was an octoling with black and teal long tentacles. Her eyes were teal with pink hourglass-shaped pupils. She was wearing a black revealing leather top with teal tights over her legs and boots.

"I'm looking for the new studio, do you know where it is?" asked the Octoling meekly.

"Um, it's down this street to the right, who are you and why are you asking?" asked Marie confused why an octoling was asking directions to the new studio.

"oh, my apologies, my...my...my name is M...Marina and I'm part of the new duo that will be broadcasting the Inkopolis news," said Marina as she shook hands with Marie and Callie.

Marie and Callie were bewildered that an octoling was in the city and how polite she was. Marie and Callie look at each other then back to Marina.

"oh, now you're a bit surprised about me being in your city, I left the valley wanting to come here, I met pearl a while back and since then we've been friends. She started a music career and asked me to join her, so here I am, " said Marina.

Marina started to walk off as Callie and Marie looked at each other.

"She really very friendly, that seems odd for an octoling" said Marie raising an eyebrow whether she should be concerned.

"she seemed nice, maybe not all octolings are bad," said Callie.

"Maybe not, but we should still be mindful treaty or not, we don't know what they're up to being we have Octavio sealed up in a snowglobe, she could be some kind of spy, " said Marie.

"I hope not, I'd like to see the two races get along for once, maybe their's more like her," said Callie.

"Yeah, sure Cal (sigh), let's head to the mall and think about what to do next," said Marie as they both left the square unsure about Marina's behavior.

* * *

Cassie and Izzy were on their way to the new Inkopolis square. They took the bus that was driven by a jellyfish since there was no tram station. They got off at the bus station and walked toward the square. The square was vacant and the shops weren't open yet.

"well I guess the square hasn't opened yet," said Cassie.

"I thought the square was supposed to be open today," said Izzy.

"It won't be open until tonight when off the hook performs for the grand opening," a voice said from behind the squid girls.

Cassie and Izzy turned around and were greeted by a small humanoid creature with a shell on its head and wearing brass goggles.

"oh, hey Sheldon," waved Cassie.

"Sheldon, I've heard of you, you build weapons for turf war games," said Izzy.

"That's right, I build weapons for the turf war players and other things, I dig up human artifacts and get the designs from whatever I find, My family has been doing this since my grandpappy Ammoses fought in the great turf war," explained Sheldon.

"Woah, your grandfather fought in the great turf war," said Izzy in excitement.

"you bet your tentacles he did, he built weapons for the inklings and defeated those octarians with his help of course," said Sheldon.

"ok Sheldon enough with the history lesson, your shop wouldn't happen to be open would it?" asked Cassie.

"I'm afraid not until the next morning, the great zapfish hasn't even left Inkopolis tower yet, so no power for the square yet even if I wanted to open my shop," explained Sheldon.

"Why do you ask?" asked Sheldon.

"Izzy, came into Inkopolis a couple of weeks ago and hasn't picked up a weapon for the turf war matches yet, we were hoping your shop would be open," said Cassie.

"Sorry, I don't know what to tell you but I can hold onto a starter kit for her though and she can pick it up when my shop opens," said Sheldon.

"That would be great Sheldon, I appreciate it," said Cassie gratefully.

"Anything for you Cassie, it's no bother," said the blushing Sheldon rubbing his head.

"Hey Sheldon, I think I'm going back to playing turf wars," said Cassie shocking Sheldon.

"Really? that's great Cassie, I thought you had stopped competing after that splat tournament a couple of years ago," said Sheldon.

"Thank Izzy, she talked me into getting back into the matches and to look past my lose at the tournament," said Cassie.

"You're the one I should thank Cass, you let me stay with you last night," said Izzy after she gave a blush.

"Well let me get back to unpacking and getting the store ready for tomorrow, see ya girls," said Sheldon as he waved and went back into his shop.

"Well Izzy, I guess we should head back to the bus stop and go somewhere else, sorry the square isn't open," apologized Cassie.

"It's ok Cass, I'm not upset," said Izzy putting her hand on Cassie's shoulder.

The two inklings left the square and back to the bus stop but didn't realize they were being watched. Two figures could be seen spying on them from around the corner of a building. It was two inklings from Camper's gang and they were contemplating how to capture Cassie without arousing attention.

"there she is but what do we do about the other girl," asked one inkling.

"we'll deal with her too, let's just focus on the green one. C'mon let's catch up with them," said the other inkling.

The two inklings squid formed and followed the two girls out of the square.

* * *

Blake had wandered around staying out of sight, avoiding anyone he saw nearby. Now that he lost his cloak from that confrontation at the underpass, Blake had to be extra cautious as to try not to attract attention. Up ahead Blake stumbbled into a large warehouse that was cluttered with crates and platforms. Conveyor belts could be seen going around the warehouse for transporting items.

Blake walked around and saw what looked like jellyfish mingling around in the center of the warehouse. He walked behind the crates to stay out of sight as he managed to get around them. Blake tripped on a wrench and yelped as he fell getting the attention of the jellyfish.

"What was that?" said one of the jellyfish in a high pitched voice.

"I don't know, it came from over there," pointed another jellyfish.

Blake panicked and ran behind a metal container to avoid them. He panted as he hugged the wall and peered around the corner.

The jellyfish were soon where he tripped and looked around. "hmm... I wonder what made that noise?" asked a jellyfish.

"I don't know, it's gone whatever it was," said another jellyfish.

The three jellyfish soon walked away and gave up on figuring out who was behind the crates.

Blake gave a sigh and continued exploring the warehouse.

After a while, he stumbled across a crate with the top partially open. Curiosity got the best of him and he decided to quietly open it up. Blake's eyes glittered as he drooled. it was full of fruit. Apples, oranges, bananas, and more.

"I don't believe it. FOOD!" shouted Blake as he started grabbing the fruit quickly and starting scarfing down the fruit as fast as he could. Blake eventually got full and propped himself on the crate.

"aaahhh... I feel much better since I'm not starving anymore," said Blake patting his stomach. He then gave a loud belch as he covered his mouth. But it was too late a jellyfish spotted him.

"Hey, you! What are you doing here!" shouted the jellyfish as it pointed at him. The jellyfish soon pulled out a radio and called out on its radio.

"Crap! It's time for me to leave," said Blake as he struggled to get up and ran as fast as he could out the warehouse.

He heard police sirens approaching down the street and spotted an alleyway to the left. Inkling police cars stopped and police officers jumped out with ink guns drawn.

"Stop right there!" yelled an inkling policeman.

Blake ignored him and bolted towards the alleyway to his left to get away from the police. The inkling police shot at him hitting him in the back of his shoulder and leg. Blake fell but got up fighting the pain from the hits.

"Don't let that thing get away!" yelled a female inkling cop as they started to pursue Blake down the alleyway.

The alleyway intersected into a T and Blake was quickly looking both ways to see where he should go as the inkling police were closing in on him. Blake decided to go left again as he was starting limp from getting hit in the leg.

"I can't let them catch me!" shouted Blake as he continued on struggling to keep pace. The inkling police were getting closer as Blake fell again from exhaustion but by luck, he ran into a drainage canal. He remembered that inklings couldn't swim and were vulnerable to water. It was his only way out as he looked back to see the police point their ink guns at him.

"Stop and put your hands up! This is your final warning!" shouted one of the inkling police officers.

Blake then looked back toward the drainage canal and decided to jump. Blake dove down in the canal as the inkling cops rushed toward the ledge to see that he was gone.

"What was that thing?" asked one of the inkling police.

"I don't know but our ink seemed to have little effect on it," said another inkling.

"Well, it couldn't have survived in the water whatever it was, let's head back to the station and give the report out," said another inkling.

The inkling police left thinking the figure probably drowned in the canal but unbeknownst to them, Blake was a human and can swim in water. after a moment Blake finally surfaced to catch some air as he was caught in a current. The current was getting stronger and Blake was struggling to keep his head up out of the water. There was nothing to grab a hold of as Blake was thrashed trying not to drown. He soon saw why the current was picking up; there was a vortex of water leading back down toward the sewers. Blake was fighting to stay away from the whirlpool as he soon got caught in the undertow.

"Help!" shouted Blake as he got pulled down and into the vortex. Blake could no longer hold his breath as he was getting pulled down further. air escaped his mouth as he closed his eyes and went unconsciense. He was sucked into the vortex back into the sewers; Blake was sure he would die as he could see nothing but darkness.

* * *

Callie and Marie were at Arowana mall hanging out at the food court. They had just got done eating when they had gotten word on a news report from the pop duo on a large flat screen overlooking the food court.

The new Inkopolis news broadcasts came on showing two figures. one was pearl sitting on a bean bag chair and Marina standing behind a DJ booth. Between them was a large tv screen.

"Y'all know what time it is!" shouted Pearl.

"It's Off the Hook coming at you live from Inkopolis square," exclaimed Marina.

"Just in case y'all were wondering, We're the new pop duo Off the Hook, We have taken over for the Inkopolis News, unfortunately, for the squid sisters we have taken over for them, well I guess out with the old and in with the new as they say," said Pearl swinging her arm.

"I loved the squid sisters and they've inspired me to get into the music business, I'm hoping other octolings will feel the same way as we will be seeing more of my race come up to the surface," said Marina as she shuffled a record.

"Yeah, Rina, you've shared that story with me after we met and yes we've been hearing talks about the octolings coming to visit Inkopolis yo," said Pearl.

"Don't worry everyone, the octolings mean you know harm since we had the peace treaty signed and their leader apprehended," said Marina trying to ease tensions.

"Well anyway, even though the square is still closed the studio will still be giving the news and updates on the opening of the square. We will be performing for the grand opening in front of Deca tower tonight as the great zapfish will perch on the tower, powering the square and opening the new turf war lobby," said Pearl as she pumped her fists in the air in excitement.

"Pearl, don't forget about the incident at the Walleye Warehouse an hour ago," said Marina changing the subject.

"Oh yeah, there was a police report on a tall figure that broke into the warehouse and was eating our food, by what the police described it appeared inkling like with arms and legs, but it didn't have tentacles on its head. Its head and face were also different with small eyes with no markings around them and small ears. people believe the creature is related to the one that escaped the Shellendorf Institute a couple of weeks ago," explainer Pearl.

"I wonder what It could've been?" asked Marina.

"Who knows, the thing jumped into a canal and the police assumed that it drowned," said Pearl throwing and bending her arms.

"I wonder why on earth it would do that," said a sympathetic Marina.

"maybe because it was ugly and didn't want to get caught," responded Pearl.

"I guess we'll never know," said Marina.

"well, that's all the time we got, until next time!" shouted Pearl.

"Don't Get Cooked... Stay Off The Hook!" shouted both Pearl and Marina as they got up and gave a pose in front of the camera.

The screen went black as the squid sisters looked at each other and the inklings went back to walking around the mall.

Marie shook her head as Callie looked at her cousin. "She hasn't changed a bit (sigh)," said Marie with exasperation.

"She didn't do too bad Marie, and I like Marina, she seemed nice," said Callie.

"well time will tell but I didn't expect her to give the news with an octoling though," said Marie slightly annoyed.

"I think they're a good pair," said Callie trying to relieve Marie.

The two got up and made their way out of the mall. Marie seemed to be stuck in thought as she walking. Callie looked at her cousin with concern and then looked in front of her.

After a moment she faced Marie. "Marie, when are goin' to talk to gramps?" asked Callie.

"Maybe tomorrow Cal, I've got a lot on my mind," said Marie as she still looking in front of her not facing her cousin.

"about what?" asked Callie.

"Just... stuff Cal, why are you asking?" said Marie in an irritated tone.

Callie looked out Marie with a saddened face as tears started to form. Marie looked at Callie with distress feeling guilty for her outburst and downed her head.

"I'm sorry Cal, It's just... everything has been changing lately. With gramps, us losing our careers with the Inkopolis news and now with this mysterious figure running around that Cassie encountered," said Marie depressed.

"It's ok Marie, things will get better, I'm sure gramps will come around and..." said Callie as she was cut off.

Marie's squidphone went off as she reached into her pocket to answer it. "Hello," replied Marie.

"Hey Marie, this is Cassie. did you hear about the creature the police tried to catch at the Walleye Warehouse," said Cassie.

"Yeah, Off the Hook gave a report about it on the TV screen at the mall," said Marie.

"I have my friend Izzy with me, I'm going to drop her off at my place and head down there to investigate," said Cassie.

"Well, be careful and good luck, let us know if you find something," said Marie as she hung up.

"what do we do now?" asked Callie.

"We might as well meet up with Cassie at the warehouse and help her look for clues," said Marie.

"ok, then let's go!" said Callie as the both of them headed to Walleye Warehouse.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the bus stop, Izzy was pacing back and forth and Cassie had just got off the phone with Marie.

Cassie turned toward Izzy. "Hey, Izzy I just got a phone call, I've got an emergency to go deal with," said Cassie.

"oh, ok then, I hope everything is alright," said Izzy a little concerned.

"It's nothing, I'll drop you off at my place whenever the bus decides to get here," said Cassie.

The two inklings that were watching Izzy and Cassie in the square were now around the corner of a building near them waiting for an opportunity to catch them.

"Alright, let's get them before the bus comes," said one inkling.

The two inklings squid formed and slithered near the two girls. When they got close enough they changed back and grabbed the two of them.

"Hey! What's goin' on!" screamed Cassie as she was grabbed from behind.

"Shut up! Our boss would like a word with you!" shouted the inkling that had a hold of her.

"Cass! what's going on? Who are these guys?!" yelled Izzy.

"Quiet you! and you won't get hurt," ordered the other inkling that had a hold of Izzy.

Cassie managed to break free from the inkling's grasp and elbowed him in the face. She punched the inkling that had a hold of Izzy

The two girls managed to get away from the two inklings and dashed down the street as fast as they could.

"Let's get them!" yelled the inkling who had Cassie rubbing his eye as the other inkling got up from Cassie's punch.

The inklings chased after Izzy and Cassie who bolted around the corner of a building. They ran down an alleyway only for it to be a dead-end. Izzy and Cassie looked back and saw the two inklings who had gained on them.

"Izzy get behind me!" shouted Cassie.

the two inklings changed back and approached the two girls and pulled out ink guns.

"Alright you two come along peacefully or else!" shouted one of the inklings point his weapon at them.

"What do you want?!" demanded Cassie.

"For you two to come with us, that's what!" shouted the inkling.

"Cassie, do you know those two?" asked Izzy scared.

"Heck no! I have no idea who they are! But I do know we're not going with them!" said Cassie glaring at the two inklings baring her teeth.

"Oh, but our boss knows you and you have no choice!" shouted the inkling as he shot Cassie in the chest knocking her back and unconsciense.

"CASSIE!" yelled Izzy. The other inkling aimed at Izzy and shot her, knocking her out.

"Get a hold of the crew, we got the squid girl and her friend," commanded the inkling to the other one.

The inkling got on his squidphone and after a while a van showed up with two more inklings as they loaded the unconsciense squid girls in the back of the vehicle and drove off. Things were not looking good for Cassie and Izzy.


	21. Arc 2 Chapter 6

**Arc 2 Chapter 6**

Nothing but darkness is all a figure could see. It slowly opened its eyes and heard the sound of running water and the smell in the air was putrid. The figure sat up and looked around unsure where they were at. It shook its head and slowly stood up dazed from the experience. It was morning the next day, it seemed the figure had been out for quite a while in the sewers.

"Where am I? What happened?" said the figure holding its head.

The figure walked down the underground canal out of the shadows to reveal that it was soaked and dirty. It wiped the mud from its face to reveal that it was none other than Blake.

Blake looked down toward himself and saw that he was covered in filth. "Aw, man! these were my only clothes," shouted Blake as he smelled his shirt to only pucker from the stench.

"What do I do now, I don't even know where I am," said Blake scratching his head.

Blake continued down until the canal ran through a large drainage grate. He stopped and saw a tunnel to his right in the wall. The tunnel was big enough for him to crawl through but was completely dark with no light anywhere. He decided he had no choice but to crawl down the tunnel and hope it leads back to the surface.

For minutes Blake had crawled as he was getting tired and hungry. The tunnel seemed to go on forever and Blake was unsure where he was going since he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. After a while, he could see a little bit of light emitting from the end of the long narrow tunnel. As he got closer to the end of the tunnel he could hear voices echo down it.

He slowly crept toward the end and saw two figures walk by. It was the two tall inkling girls he saw back at the plaza talking to the bearded old inkling.

"I hope gramps will be alright, Marie," said the black and pink tentacled inkling wearing sunglasses.

"He's Captain Cuttlefish Cal, I'm sure he'll be fine he's been through the great turf war, after all, I'm sure this mood he's in will pass, " said the green and grey tentacled inkling.

"I hope so Marie, I hate seeing him like this," said the one called Callie.

"Me, too, Cal. We'll come back shortly and give him a little space," said the one called Marie.

The two of them got further as Blake crawled out of the tunnel and into a larger tunnel the two inkling girls were walking down.

Blake looked back toward the girls with a confused look. "Cuttlefish? They know Cuttlefish, was that the old inkling wearing the captain's hat, but the captain was a lot younger than that," said Blake as turned toward the direction the two inklings were walking from.

Blake pondered for a moment. "How long was I in that pod?... I guess that explains the city, but there are so many questions. I have no choice but to find out, that captain's hat seemed familiar for some reason but if that was the captain I have to go talk to him and let him know I'm alive," said Blake as he walked down the tunnel toward the direction the inklings came from.

* * *

15 minutes earlier, the squid sisters came out of the storm drain that led to Cuttlefish's and Octo Valley. The two of them walked over to Cuttlefish's shack and knocked on his door.

"I hope gramps is in a better mood, Marie," said Callie with concern.

"Me too Cal, I have some questions to ask him not to mention letting him know about the figure at the Walleye Warehouse," said Marie.

seconds passed as footsteps could be heard approaching behind the door. The door opened and it was Cuttlefish with his bamboo cane.

"Howdy grandsquids," greeted Cuttlefish.

"Hey gramps, I'm glad to see you're in better spirits," said Callie relieved to see her grandfather In a better mood.

"yeah, I just kinda snapped when I saw that squid badge, it's just it brought up bad memories, from back during the great turf war," said Cuttlefish depressingly as he downed his head.

"About that squid badge gramps, If you know something about it then why did that mysterious figure have it? that's what I would like to know?" asked Marie.

"I'm as baffled as you are lass, I'm sure how it got its hand on that badge," said Cuttlefish.

"Well that mysterious figure appeared again only this time at the Walleye Warehouse, unfortunately, it was pursued by the police and it jumped in the canal," said Marie.

"I hope it survived somehow," said Callie with concern.

"It couldn't have been an inkling or octoling, we can't swim, so I'm not sure who or what the figure could've been," said Marie.

"Well keep investigating agents, if it jumped in that canal then it could've survived. See if you can get a hold of Agent 3 before you go track it down," said Cuttlefish waving his cane.

"ok gramps, we'll keep looking, hopefully, Cassie isn't busy," said Marie.

"Bye gramps," said Cassie as she waved toward Cuttlefish as both of them headed back to the storm drain.

As the two of them were walking down the drain, Marie was deep in thought like when she was at the mall, after a while of walking, Marie finally spoke. "I know gramps seemed ok but I could pass his calm demeanor, he's hiding his emotions for some reason, ever since he saw that squid badge he hasn't seemed right," said Marie as she gave a sigh.

"I hope gramps will be alright," said Callie with concern.

He's Captain Cuttlefish Cal, I'm sure he'll be fine he's been through the great turf war, after all, I'm sure this mood he's in will pass, " said the green and grey tentacled inkling.

"I hope so Marie, I hate seeing him like this," said the one called Callie.

"Me, too, Cal. We'll come back shortly and give him a little space," said the one called Marie.

"well, where do we start looking, Marie?" asked Callie.

"We'll head down to the Walleye Warehouse and look for clues, but I'll get a hold of Cassie first before we do anything," answered Marie.

The two of them finally reach the end of the tunnel and squid formed out of the storm drain and back into the plaza. They shift forms again and looked around as to make sure the coast was clear even though the plaza was empty. Marie pulled out her squidphone and called Cassie but there was no answer.

"Huh, she won't pick up," said Marie.

"I wonder why? She always answers," said Callie.

"I don't know Cal, let's head to her apartment first," said Marie as the two of them headed to Flounder Heights.

* * *

In a disclosed area, two figures are seen tied in a chair as light is illuminating above them. one of them moans as she tries to move her head. She slowly shook it and opened her eyes. She looked around and realized she was tied up and couldn't move. "What's going on? Why am I tied to this chair? Where's...IZZY!" shouted Cassie as panicked from her situation.

"Mmmm..." a voice could be mumbling right behind her. As she turned looked it was Izzy tied to a chair facing the opposite direction behind her. "Izzy?" asked Cassie.

"Huuhh..." panned Izzy as she was still dazed. "Cass? What's going on on?" asked Izzy weakly still half conscience.

"I don't know, all I remember is getting chased by these inklings and..." said Cassie as she was cut off by the sound of footsteps.

The footsteps were getting closer as Cassie and Izzy were anticipating who their captors were why they were taken away. The footsteps came to a stop outside the light and the figure could not be made out do to the darkness hiding their identity.

"Good...you're awake, it's been a while, Cass," said the figure.

"Who are you? and why did you kidnap us?!" demanded Cassie.

"Your not a position to ask questions. now then, As for me, I guess you still don't remember?" said the figure.

"Remember what!? I don't not what you are talking about!?" shouted Cassie.

"Hmpf... I guess things never change with you, Cass, well then, let me step closer into the light," said the figure and it stepped into the light, out of the dark.

"(gasp) Ross?!" exclaimed Cassie who was in utter shock.

"like I said it's been a while, Cass, " said the inkling who revealed himself pulling down his skull mask.

"Ross? Isn't that your jerk ex-boyfriend," asked Izzy who was stunned as much as Cassie.

"It's Camper! and yes I used to be her boyfriend before she ratted on me at the splat tournament years ago," explained Camper.

"Ross, why are you doing this? why kidnap me and Izzy?" asked a still stunned Cassie.

"I wanna know about the creature that has been skulking around Inkopolis, my sources say it came out of that metal pod the octolings have desperately been wanting," demanded Camper.

"Wait, your working with the octarians! Why? what do they want with that creature?" asked Cassie in confusion.

"I'm not working with the octarians! They paid me to retrieve that pod the creature was in! and their reason is none your concern, now start talking!" demand an irritated Camper.

"Ross, don't do this! This is between you and me! Let Izzy go!" shouted Cassie.

"you really think I'm going to let your friend go, no I need leverage, now talk or else!" demand Camper with his patience wearing thin.

"Ross! I don't know anything! I'm telling the truth!" exclaimed Cassie as she was starting to tear up.

"Surely you know something, you don't think I know your little secret?" said Camper as he gave a devilish grin.

"Secret? what's he talking about Cass?" asked a concerned Izzy.

"She's a squidbeak agent," said Camper.

"Izzy, I'm sorry I got you into this mess, I can explain later," said a distressed Cassie as tears were running down her face.

"There won't be a later if you don't start talking," said an aggravated Camper.

"Dammit Camper, for the last time I don't anything!, all I know is it couldn't have been an inkling or octoling and it disappeared in the alleyway going into the plaza, now, please! let Izzy go!" demanded Cassie.

"Now we're getting somewhere, you're going to take me to where you last saw that thing," said Camper.

"I'm doing anything for you!" shouted Cassie holding her tears back.

"Oh really, alright boys get her friend there and take her to the back!" ordered Camper.

two male inklings approached Cass and Izzy. The two untied Izzy and started to drag her away.

"CASS! Where are they taking me! Help!" yelled Izzy as she was being taken away.

"Izzy! Ross let her go! Where are you taking her?!" shouted Cassie as she was tearing up again.

"Like I said I need leverage, now you will take me to that alleyway or your friend will end up an ink stain on the floor," said Camper sinisterly.

"No! Ross...I...I'll take you there, just don't hurt Izzy! If you do mark my words I'll make you pay!" said Cassie angrily as she glared at Camper with wet eyes.

"Still acting tough as always, that's what I liked about you Cass, now enough of the empty threats, let's go!" commanded Camper as he untied Cassie from the chair and pushed her toward the exit with a couple of other gang members.

Cassie rubbed her wrist from the restraints and looked back. "Don't worry Izzy, I'll get us out of this," said Cassie to herself as she, Camper and other inklings walked out of the door.

* * *

Meanwhile in what appeared to be a large metal chamber with computers and monitors. looked like cut off tentacles with legs and large eyes and lips were roaming around on metal disc-like platforms. Also in the chamber were what looked like human-like creatures similar to the inklings, but instead of drooping squid-like tentacles on their head, were tentacles that came down and curled, they were more octopus-like with the suction cups on the top instead of the bottom, whereas inklings suction cups were under their tentacles.

The creatures were known as octolings and they dwelled underground in Octo Valley. They signed a peace treaty with the inklings after their leader DJ Octavio was captured and the octolings were exposed to the Calamari Inktation which turned the hearts of some of the octolings that were exposed to the squid sister's song. The treaty included that the octolings could come up on the surface and visit or even reside in Inkopolis as well as receiving enough zapfish to power up their domes.

As the octolings were monitoring the computers and the walking tentacles were providing security. A red-tentacled octoling girl rushed in the chamber and approached a black-headed octoling girl. These black-tentacled octolings were called elites and they acted as the superiors to the red-tentacled octolings with seaweed sticking out of the tentacles and they wore metallic goggles like other octolings.

"Ma'am," saluted the red-tentacled octoling girl.

"Report!" responded the elite.

"Our spy has reported that Camper and his gang have still not retrieved the pod, but the subject inside it had escaped sometime during their retrieval of the pod," said the octoling standing firm.

"Those blasted squids can't do anything right," said the agitated elite clenching her fist.

"That's not all lieutenant, Camper seems to have captured the squidbeak agent, Agent 3! she appears to have tried to subdue what we believe was the subject in the metal pod but was successful and lost it, Camper is trying to get her to show them the whereabouts of its last sighting," said the octoling.

"Well, this complicates things, we are at peace with inklings even though agent 3 is responsible for the slayings of many octarians. I hold no grudge as the priority is to find and capture the subject in that metal pod," said the elite as she gave a sigh.

"ensure the spy keeps us updated on the situation as shocking as this might sound I hope no harm comes to Agent 3," said the elite.

"Lieutenant, why should you care about the well being of that agent, after all, she did kill many of our brethren," said the confused octoling showing sympathy for Cassie.

"Because sergeant, If anything were to happen to Agent 3 we would be blamed, do to us having contact with Camper and his gang. They're liable to pin this on us if anything were to happen," explained the elite.

"That's understandable, but still, I could care less about that agent or any of those squids," said the octoling.

"enough sergeant, I know what she has done but the inklings have kept their end of the treaty by giving us enough zapfish to power some of the domes. Even though we do have enough zapfish, the domes are aging and having power sources aren't fixing the problem, we need to find that subject if we are to survive, is that understood?" asked the elite.

"Ye...ye...yes ma'am," said the octoling hesitantly.

"Good, now go," ordered the elite as the octoling gave a salute and left.

As the octoling left the elite turned back shaking her head. "She and the other octolings need to understand that our survival is at stake, I could care less about the squid either but I want peace among us and the inklings if we no other choice but to leave Octo Valley," said the elite to herself.

"(Sigh) We need to find that subject," said the elite as she started to walk out of the chamber.

* * *

Blake was walking down the drain tunnel towards Octo Valley. It was cold and dark and he could see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Blake had thoughts racing through his head if wether or not that the old inkling was Cuttlefish. If it was what should he say, how would Cuttlefish react to seeing him again? Blake sighed and continued walking but as he did he felt fatigued and was hungry again as he fought to keep his strength.

Blake finally reached the end of the tunnel looking up and seeing daylight through the grate. He climbed up and slowly opened the grate and peeked around. He looked and spotted Cuttlefish's shack.

"That's Cuttlefish's shack. That had to have been Cuttlefish I saw," exclaimed Blake.

He struggled to climb out of the hole as he was getting weaker. He got up and stared at the shack.

"What do I say? I don't know how long I was in that pod?" said Blake to himself.

Blake gave a long sigh as he looked down and then looked back at the shack.

He slowly walked toward Cuttlefish's shack but something was wrong, he felt really weak all of a sudden and he had trouble staying up. He struggled to try and stay up but his legs gave way as he reached for the door and he fell out. Laying on his stomach he reached his arm out but to no avail, he lost conscienceness and his arm fell down. He wanted to shout but couldn't as his eyes went blurry and eventually closed as he laid there.

Inside the shack Cuttlefish was eating a Krabby cake as he heard something outside his door. Thinking that his grandkids had come back and slowly walked toward the door. As he opened it he looked around and finally spotted a figure lying face down in front of the door. The figure was covered in filth and its clothes were tattered and worn. Its head was covered by a sash to conceal it's identity but was clearly not an inkling with no exposed tentacles.

"What's this?" asked Cuttlefish as he tapped the figure with his cane.

He then knelt down to tip the figure on it's back and saw it's exposed face.

Cuttlefish's eyes bulged as he jumped back in unbelievable shock. "No, No this can't be, It just can't," exclaimed Cuttlefish as he shook his head in shock.

Cuttlefish saw that it was none other than Blake. His human friend from long ago during the great turf war. He was believed to have died and would never see him again. Cuttlefish was utterly flabbergasted and couldn't believe that his best friend was lying on the ground in front of him.

Cuttlefish got up and rushed back toward Blake's body. He knelt down and shook Blake. "Bucko! Bucko! Get up! Is that really you!" as tears started to form in Cuttlefish's eyes.

But no response. Cuttlefish was deeply worried and decided to drag Blake's body inside to figure out why he wasn't waking up.

* * *

The squid sisters made it back to the plaza and walked to Cassie's apartment. On the way there Marie was still trying to call Cassie but was having no luck.

"Anything?" asked Callie.

"No, she still isn't picking up, something's not right, she would've answered her phone," said Marie.

"Maybe she's tied up with something, Marie," said Callie.

"I don't know Cal, you would think she would have called back or sent a text," said Marie.

"I'm sure she's fine Marie, I know she's been trying to catch up with her personal life, but you and gramps keep sending her out to do missions," said Callie looking at her cousin.

"Well with everything that's been going on, we have to keep Inkopolis safe, I'm sorry it's cutting into her life but she's an agent and so are we," explained Marie looking back at her cousin with a serious look.

"(sigh) I know Marie, I mean we're not reporting anymore but yet here we are still doing missions for gramps, I was hoping this would end as soon as the peace treaty was established between us and octarians," said Callie in disappointment.

"I was too Cal, but the peace treaty doesn't guarantee anything, we still have to keep a lookout and after the incident at the Shellendorf Institute and that creature Cass tried to subdue at the Urchin Underpass, we can't be sure the octarians are not up to something, Agent 3 did capture Octavio," said Marie.

"I guess you're right Marie, I hope nothing's happened to Cassie," said Callie looking back in front of them.

"I hope not either Cal, the sooner we get to her apartment the better," said Marie also looking back in front of them.

The two of them made it to flounder heights. They soon spotted Cassie's apartment and walked in. Inside they made their way to the elevator and up to the floor where Cassie's room was. They walked down the hallway until they reached Cassie's and knocked on the door. There was no answer as Marie continued to knock.

"Maybe she's not home Marie," said Cassie.

"This is strange, I wonder where she could be?" said Marie.

"Where do we look now?" asked Callie.

"I'm not sure Callie, I just feel something's not right, I hope she's not in any danger," said a worried Marie.

"I hope not either Marie, should we check the mall?" asked Callie with a concerned tone.

"(sigh) I suppose so, this isn't like her, she should've picked up her phone or let us know something," said Marie a little irritated.

"So what do you wanna do Marie?" asked Callie.

"Let's just head back to gramps, will inform him about Cassie," said Marie.

"Oh, I hope she's alright Marie," said a concerned Callie holding her hands together.

The two then head out the apartment complex and back towards the plaza hoping Cassie was not in any kind of danger. The two of them decided to head back to Cuttlefish's and report to him that they couldn't get in contact with Cassie and see what he wanted to do but unknown to their knowledge. The creature they had been looking for would soon be under their noses once they got there. I wonder how the squid sisters will react to the human's appearance and find out that it was an old friend of their grandfather's back during the great turf war.


	22. Arc 2 Chapter 7

**Arc 2 Chapter 7**

Izzy was put in a small room and was guarded from the outside by a few of Camper's gang members. She was sitting down on the floor her with face in her legs as she cried unsure what was going and why she and Cass had been kidnapped. Izzy picked her head and sniffled hoping that someone would look for her and Cassie.

"Cass, I hope you're alright, (Sniffle) I hope someone will come looking for us," said Izzy wiping the tears from her eye and downing her head back against her legs.

Thoughts were running through Izzy's head as she feared they were trapped and at the whim of Camper and his gang.

Meanwhile, Cassie was guiding Camper and his gang toward Urchin Underpass to see if there was any evidence or clues about the mysterious figure. As they got there they looked around but to no luck there was nothing. They made there way across the turf war stage and into the alleyway where Cass last saw the creature.

"It disappeared down this alleyway, I don't know where it went," said Cassie.

Camper looked around and saw no traces of the creature. "It couldn't have just disappeared, keep looking," demanded Camper.

"Hey, boss! look!" yelled one Camper's gang members as he pointed to a manhole lid.

"That's got to be the only way the creature got away," said Camper.

Camper's guys lifted up the manhole lid and looked down covering their noses from the smell.

"yuck! why on earth would anyone go down there? All well," said Camper in disgust.

He turned toward Cassie and pointed to her to go down the manhole. "Alright Cass, ladies first," said Camper snidely.

"Awww, aren't you a gentlesquid, and no I'm not going down there!" said Cassie sarcastically crossing her arms in protest.

"yes you are, you don't want anything to happen to your friend do you," said Camper with an evil grin pulling out his phone.

"Wait, Ross! I'll...go down," said Cassie as she downed her arms and head.

"That's a good girl, now start climbing," said Camper putting his phone back in his pocket.

Everyone had made it down into the sewers. They walked through the tunnel until they came across the abandoned maintenance room. The door was cracked and the light was still on. The inklings slowly crept toward the door with their ink guns out.

"Alright you two, check the room," ordered Camper as he pointed to two of his gang members.

The two inklings nodded and huddled up near the door. One inkling braced up against the wall and the other stood in front of the door ready to kick it open. The two inklings soon stormed the room but it was empty. "Boss, there's no one here!" shouted one of the inklings.

Camper and Cass walked in and looked around. No one was occupying the room but Camper spotted a smashed box in the corner. "Apparently someone has been staying in here, keep searching!" barked Camper as he had held Cassie's arm.

"yes, Camper!" the two inklings shouted as they left the room.

Camper slung Cassie to the floor on the crushed box that was used as a makeshift bed. "Alright! Start talking about the creature! What did it look like? Where did it go?" demanded Camper.

Cassie looked up and glared at Camper as she sitting on the crushed box. "Ross, I already told you I don't know where it went!" shouted Cassie angrily.

"I heard you tried to subdue it and your ink didn't have much effect on it, why?" asked Camper.

"Ross I don't know! All I know is it was tall and was wearing some kind of cloak. I didn't see its face but it didn't have tentacles on its head, it looked kinda like fur, like on Judd, I don't think it was an inkling or octoling," said Cassie looking at Camper with concern.

"well duh, of course, it wasn't an inkling or octoling!" shouted Camper in a smug tone.

Camper looked off and thought for a moment as Cassie was looking at him with concern and confusion.

"So, it's true what the octolings said, I thought they were full of crap, I thought they were long extinct," Camper said quietly said to himself.

"What? What is it Ross?, what do you know and what about the octolings?" asked Cassie hearing some of Camper's conservation.

Camper looked back at Cass. "That's none of your business!" shouted Camper.

"If the octolings are involved in this, then it is my business, If you put Inkopolis or anyone else in danger, I'll...," said Cassie with seriousness as she was cut off.

"You'll do what? You seem to forget that I have your friend and who's going to believe you anyway," said Camper in a smug tone.

"Believe what?" asked Cassie with concern.

"You ask too many questions, Cass. now enough! let's go!" shouted an irritated Camper as he grabbed Cassie up by the arm and shoved her out the doorway.

* * *

At the square in the new studio, Pearl and Marina were getting ready for the grand opening for the square. Pearl was looking in a mirror admiring herself while Marina was checking her equipment. After a moment Pearl turned around and looked at Marina. "Well, Rina you ready for tonight?" asked Pearl energetically.

"I guess so, Pearly, just making sure everything is working properly before tonight," responded Marina still checking her equipment.

"Rina, I'm sure everything will work fine, take a break you've been dealing with that all morning," said Pearl.

"Pearl, you know I want everything to go right at the grand opening, this is special, all the inklings will be there and I'm hoping the octolings will too," said Marina turning toward Pearl.

"I'm not so sure about the octolings, Rina. I mean they have been our enemies since, like a long time. Who's to say they still aren't, I mean even with the peace treaty that doesn't mean they might try something," said Pearl crossing her arms.

Pearl, that's not fair! It was the inklings that drove us underground with hardly any power, I mean I'm not mad anymore and I'm glad the inklings have given us a chance. " said Marina with an indignant tone with her arms crossed.

"Rina, I wasn't directing toward you, you're different, you're my friend and I just don't trust any of the other octolings is all," said Pearl with her hands out.

"Pearly you're always judging, that's still my people and you should give them a chance, you gave me a chance and taught me your culture, remember," said Marina calming down from Pearl's remarks.

"Alright Marina, I'm sorry, let's just focus on the concert and hope everything goes ok," said Pearl as she hugged Marina.

"(Sigh) I just wish you wouldn't be so critical of everything Pearly, but I'm glad to have you as a friend," said Marina with a slight smile.

"Hey! that's what I do yo!" said Pearl as Marina closed her eyes and shook her head.

After a while, as they headed back to their stations, Marina turned back toward pearl. "Hey Pearl," said Marina with a serious look.

"yeah, Rina?" asked Pearl.

"I hope the octolings don't try anything either, I hope they're true to the treaty, I wanna stay in Inkopolis and stay friends with you and the inklings," said Marina with a concerned tone.

"I hope so too Rina, I shouldn't have said all those things, I want us to stay friends too. I don't you to get driven out of Inkopolis because you're an octoling. I'll knock any buster that tries and haggle you or hurt you because you're an octoling," said Pearl with an angered tone clenching her fists.

Marina chuckled covering her mouth. "Pearly, you never change," said Marina with a smile.

"Hey! That's what friends are for Rina!" said Pearl pointing her thumb to herself.

The two then continued what they were doing. Pearl walked toward the back of the studio while Marina stayed up front continuing working on her DJ booth. Marina waited until Pearl was out of sight and quickly picked up her laptop and started typing. She opened up a message board and was typing a message to an unknown individual. after a moment a message popped up on her screen as she read it.

"So the rumors are true, (sigh) I hope this doesn't get out, who knows how Inkopolis will react," said Marina with a slightly distressed.

She typed and sent another message to the unknown individual and waited. After a moment another message came in and she read it.

She heard Pearl come back in the studio and she quickly shut the laptop and put it away. "Hey, Rina you seen my squidphone?" asked Pearl.

"Uh...there it is, you left in your chair, pearly," as she looked around and spotted the phone.

"Thanks, Rina, are you ok?" asked Pearl raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" said Marina slightly nervous.

'Nothing, It's just...your acting nervous or something," said Pearl.

"Well, of course I am, the concert is tonight," said Marina trying to throw pearl off.

"Yeah, you have been worried about that, well don't be, you'll do fine Rina!" said pearl assuring Marina.

Pearl walked to the back of the studio again out of sight. Marina gave a long sigh and took her laptop back out and started typing again.

"I gotta do something, but the concert is tonight, hopefully, nothing will happen before then," said Marina.

* * *

Blake was laying in a bed with his eyes still closed. He started to flinch as the old inkling Cuttlefish was sitting in a chair next to bed, still not believing the human he was dear friends with long ago was alive and laying in front of him.

"I... can't believe it... I just can't," muttered Cuttlefish shaking his head still in shock.

Blake mumbled and slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry as he allowed his eyes to focus and turned his head toward the figure looking over him.

"Huh... what's going on?...wh...where...am I?" asked Blake weakly.

He noticed the old inkling and jerked wide-eyed. "Who are you?!" What's going on!? Wait...are you?" asked Blake getting out of his fear.

Cuttlefish nodded to Blake and he soon got up off the chair with his cane.

"It's me Bucko, Captain Cuttlefish," said Cuttlefish.

"Ca...Captain? Is that... really you?" asked Blake trying to take in the captain's appearance.

"Yeah, Bucko it's me," said Cuttlefish softly.

"Captain!" shouted Blake as he reached over and pulled Cuttlefish in a hug.

"Woah! Bucko! I'm not young anymore!" said Cuttlefish in surprise from the embrace.

"Sorry Captain, but... It's been so long, I thought I would never see you again!" exclaimed Blake with tears in his eyes.

"Everything's going to be ok, I saw you laying in front of my door, I didn't know what to think, I'm... just glad to see you again," said Cuttlefish as tears started to form.

"Me too Captain, how long has it been?" asked Blake wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Bucko, it's been a hundred years," explained Cuttlefish.

"100 years!" shouted Blake in utter shock not believing what he just heard.

"It's true Bucko... I'm sorry, I wish I could've stopped Octavio," said Cuttlefish as he downed his head in remorse.

"Captain it's not your fault, it happened so fast. There was nothing you could've done," said Blake placing his hand on Cuttlefish's shoulder trying to console him.

Cuttlefish looked back up at Blake. Blake gave Cuttlefish a smile and a hug then gave him a serious look.

"Captain, then you and the inklings won the war, was Octavio stopped?" asked Blake.

"Yes, bucko, we won and Octavio was stopped, I... wanted to kill him after I saw you drop in that pod but... I didn't... I didn't want to lose another friend," said Cuttlefish in distress covering his eyes to hide his tears.

"Captain...I'm proud that you didn't kill Octavio, I still hold anger towards him for it but, (Sigh) I'm just glad you and the inklings stopped him," said Blake.

"Thanks, bucko, I don't think I could've lived with myself if I splatted that bastard," said Cuttlefish.

"Speaking of the war, how about Judd and, Ammoses," asked Blake.

"Judd is still around, he stays in the city, that fat cat does nothing but eat and sleep, he hasn't changed a bit," said Cuttlefish.

"Ammoses...Isn't around... he passed away years ago, bucko. I'm...sorry, but his grandson is running a shop in the city," said Cuttlefish sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, he was my friend too Captain...what about...Mimi?" asked Blake in a worried tone.

"I've talked to her, but it's been years Bucko, I'm not sure if she is still around, last I heard she was still running her store in Calamari County," said Cuttlefish.

Blake just remained silent as thoughts of losing his friends ran threw his head. Seeing Cuttlefish brought both relief but anguish hearing it had been a hundred years since he was thrown into that pod by Octavio. He felt the same as he did when he was found on the beach years ago by Cuttlefish and Octavio.

Blake sat back on the bed and recollected himself. He gave a long sigh and looked back at Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish looked back at him with a saddened look and then downed his head. Blake's stomach growled and Cuttlefish picked his head back up.

"sounds like your hungry, bucko," said Cuttlefish,

"starving captain," said Blake holding his stomach as he got up.

The two of them walked out of Cuttlefish's bedroom and headed to the kitchen to get some food.

* * *

Back at Camper's base, two inklings were standing guard in front of a door where Izzy was being held against her will. After a moment another inkling could be seen approaching the guards. She had purple tentacles under her cap with yellow eyes. She was wearing a jacket and tight black shorts like all other inklings. As she walked up to the two inklings. One of the inklings held his hand up to stop her.

"Hey! stop right there! what's your business?" demanded the inkling guard.

"I'm here to talk to the prisoner, orders from Camper," said the inkling girl with her arms crossed.

"We weren't told anything, get outta here!" yelled the guard.

"Alright, I tried doing this the easy way," muttered the inkling girl.

She pulled out an ink gun and shot at the guard knocking him against the wall.

"What the!" shouted the other guard.

She rushed him and hit him with her ink gun knocking him out like the other one. "Hmpf... they weren't so tough," said the inkling girl in a smug tone.

She slowly opened the door and looked inside and spotted Izzy sitting on the floor balled up against the wall with her back turned.

"Hey!" shouted the inkling girl.

Izzy turned and looked over her shoulder with teary eyes. "yes," said Izzy softly.

"Are you friends with that green tentacled inkling girl?" asked the inkling.

"Yeah, she's my friend, why?" asked Izzy with a distressed tone.

"I'm getting you outta here, come with me," ordered the inkling girl.

"What? Thank you! I..." said Izzy gratefully as she was cut off by the inkling girl.

"Save it, we gotta get outta here," said the inkling girl as she grabbed Izzy's arm and rushed out the door.

The two them ran through Camper's base evading any of his gang members. They managed to make their way near the exit until some inklings were at the doorway. They were messing with their squidphones not paying attention when all of a sudden one of them got a call.

"Hello?" said the inkling. after moment "What?! We'll be right there," he yelled. "You two! go and get the others, search the entire building!" ordered the inkling as he pointed to two other inklings.

The two nodded and squid formed slithering away. The inklings vacated the doorway and the coast was clear.

"Ok, come on," said the inkling girl that helped Izzy escape. The two then made their way to the doorway and looked out. "Alright, I think we're home free," said the purple-headed inkling.

"Just who are you and why did you help me?" asked Izzy.

"Their's no time for that, let's say I work with someone who wants to ensure no one gets hurt over this," answered the inkling girl.

"Well at least tell me your name," said Izzy.

"My name's Cleo, I've been a mole under Camper, watching him and getting information," said Cleo as she looked back at Izzy.

"Well thank you for freeing me Cleo, so why are you spying on Camper and his gang?" asked Izzy.

"(sigh) look, let's just focus on getting out of here and not worry about that," said Cleo with a serious tone.

"Are you some sort of secret agent or something?" asked Izzy.

Cleo pinched the top of her nose and was starting to get irritated from all the questions from Izzy. "Look, be fortunate I even got you outta there, now stop asking questions or..." said Cleo angrily as she was cut off by two of Camper's gang members spotting them at the doorway.

"Hey you!" shouted one of Camper's guys.

"Let's go!" yelled Cleo as she shoved Izzy out the doorway.

"Don't let them escape!" shouted the gang member as he pulled out his ink gun.

Cleo pointed her ink gun at the inkling and shot him, knocking him on the ground. She soon exchanged fire with the other member as he was soon hit too with the other. More inklings appeared and shot at Cleo. Cleo pulled out a splat bomb exploding and coating the area around the gang members. While they took cover she squid formed to catch up with Izzy.

The first inkling gang member she shot weakly sat up with his squidphone. "I'm... calling...Camper," he weakly said as he was dialing.

* * *

Blake was eating a krabby cake with Cuttlefish at the table. "Don't you get tired of these Captain?" asked Blake as he was eating, though he wasn't content with the cake.

"It's all I got bucko, you were pretty weak when I found you outside, I'm surprised you didn't starve to death," said Cuttlefish.

"I almost did if you hadn't taken me inside," said Blake as he laid the krabby cake down on his plate.

Blake had a hard time eating, smelling the filthy shirt that he was wearing as he threw on the floor.

"What happened to you bucko?" asked Cuttlefish with concern.

"(sigh) All I remember was waking up in that pod in what looked like a museum or something. I remember all these displays until this jellyfish guard shined a light on me and I had to get away," explained Blake.

"So, you were the one that was at the Shellendorf Institute, but you weren't alone. What I had gathered there were two others that were there as well. We believed they were trying to steal the metal pod you were in," said Cuttlefish.

"What? but why would anyone try and take that cryostasis pod unless they were... after me. But why?" asked Blake.

"I don't know Bucko, their's so many questions and no answers, I got my agents trying to figure that one out," said Cuttlefish.

"Wait...agents?" said a surprised and confused Blake.

"yes bucko, I started the squidbeak squad back when the Octarians stole the great Zapfish," said Cuttlefish as he tapped his cane on the floor.

'The octarians? wait I thought we won and I saw what I think was the zapfish back at that plaza in the city on this giant green tower," said Blake still confused.

"The Octarians were banished to Octo Valley along with Octavio but overtime the zapfish they had were fizzling out and we had obtained the great zapfish and others. Their domes were losing power so they stole our zapfish along with the great one per orders from Octavio himself," explained Cuttlefish.

"But, I saw the great zapfish at the plaza, so..." panned Blake still a little confused.

"We got the zapfish back and captured Octavio two years ago thanks to my young agent, agent 3 along with the help of agents 1 and 2, my grandsquids," explained Cuttlefish again.

"Agents 1, 2, and 3, grandsquids?" said Blake raising an eyebrow.

"A lot has happened while you've been gone but we signed a peace treaty with the octarians so hopefully they will not be a threat to the inklings anymore," said Cuttlefish.

"so the inklings and octolings are finally at peace," asked Blake.

"I hope so bucko, with Octavio captured, the octarians did recieve some of our zapfish to power their domes and the octarians themselves being allowed to come up to the surface, hopefully, they'll be no more fighting or taking the great zapfish from us anymore," said Cuttlefish.

"That's good to hear, I'm glad the races can finally resolve things and live in harmony again, I hated the great turf war. all the lives lost and homes destroyed, I just..." said Blake in anguish as he felt Cuttlfish grab his shoulder.

"I'm hoping It'll stay like that lad and we can catch up for lost time but for now let's get back to eating," said Cuttlefish as just then he heard voices coming from outside.

Cuttlefish looked out the window and saw that his granddaughters we coming back.

"Bucko! It's my grandsquids! They'll freak out if they see you! Hide in the pantry! Go!" commanded Cuttlefish frantically.

Blake scurried to the pantry and closed the door and cracked it to peek out without revealing himself.

Callie and Marie knocked on the door. Cuttlefish walked toward the door and opened it. "Girls, your back so early, what's wrong?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Hey gramps, we can't get a hold of Cassie and we've been to her apartment," explained Marie.

'Yeah, gramps she's not answering and she wasn't home neither, we're worried," said Callie with concern.

"I'm sure the lass is ok, If she can handle Octavio, she can handle anything else, hopefully, she'll turn up," said Cuttlefish trying to calm the girls down.

Marie looked over Cuttlefish's shoulder and saw that there were two plates set up on the table with one krabby cake halfway eaten. "Umm, gramps who was here while we were gone? asked Marie.

"Uh...no one lass," said Cuttlefish nervously.

"Then why's it set up for two people?" asked Callie.

"I was just hungry and uh..." said Cuttlefish as he had a had time explaining.

Marie walked over and inspected the table and saw the cake was half-eaten which was unlike her were grandfather to waste a good krabby cake. She then looked around and spotted Blake's dirty smelly shirt on the floor and then picked it up. Marie scringed from the smell and held it up away while covering her mouth and nose.

"Marie, what is it?" asked Callie.

"Gramps whose shirt is this? It stinks!" asked Marie.

"I had to do some laundry, it must have fallen out of the basket," answered a more nervous Cuttlefish.

"Gramps, this is too big for you to wear, and me and Callie always do your laundry," said Marie dropping the shirt and putting her hands on her hips with a serious face.

"I...uhh..." panned Cuttlefish as was sweating.

"Gramps, what's going on?" asked Callie in a serious tone crossing her arms.

"Gramps, you haven't been yourself since you saw that old squid badge, what's going on? what are you not telling us?" said an irritated Marie.

"Gramps we don't appreciate you hiding stuff from us," said Callie who felt disapproved of Cuttlefish's behavior.

Blake could see the grilling that Cuttlefish was getting and was unsure what to do and felt bad for hiding. He soon bumped into the shelf behind him causing a can to fall on his head. "owww..." moaned Blake from the impact.

The squid sisters jerked and turned toward the pantry Blake was hiding in. "Gramps, who's here?" demanded Marie as she picked up her ink charger and aimed it at the pantry door. Callie picked up her ink roller and prepared for anything. Cuttlefish noticed his grandkids closing in on the pantry worried they would shoot Blake if they saw him.

As Marie was about to open the door and Callie holding up her roller. Cuttlefish panicked and waved at his grandkids. "Wait, grandsquids! I can't lie to you anymore," said Cuttlefish as he downed his head.

"Alright, Bucko, come on out and meet my grandsquids," said Cuttlefish. Callie and Marie backed away from the pantry as the door slowly opened.

As Blake walked out and stood in from them. Callie and Marie went wide-eyed and gasped at the sight of Blake.

"Um...hey there," said Blake awkwardly as he rubbed his arm and gave a slight wave to the squid sisters. They were frozen in fear and confusion at Blake's sight seeing the only human they ever saw.


	23. Arc 2 Chapter 8

**Arc 2 Chapter 8**

The squid sisters were speechless and weren't sure what to say with a human standing in front of them.

"Bucko, I like you to meet my grandsquids, Agent 1 and Agent 2," said Cuttlefish.

"N...Nice to meet you...I'm B...Blake," said Blake as he was holding his hand out for a shake.

The squid sisters stared at the human not knowing how to react or what exactly he was. He had small eyes with no marks. He had hair instead on tentacles and his teeth were different as well. The two of them were intimidated by his apperence and height, being he was just a little taller than them. Blake looked at them and laid his arm down and looked away rubbing his head feeling awkward.

"Grandsquids, their's nothing to be afraid of, this is Blake and he is the first squidbeak agent, agent zero," said Cuttlefish turning back to the girls.

"Agent Zero!" shouted the girls in unison.

"Gramps, their's no way he could've been a squidbeak agent, he's not even an inkling!" shouted Marie in shock and confusion.

"It's true, I... was recruited by Cuttlefish back before the great turf war," explained Blake.

"Wait, great turf war! you can't be that old and what was a human doing in the great turf war!" exclaimed Marie trying to cope with the fact a human was standing before her and hearing about him being a squidbeak agent and fighting in the great turf war.

"Gramps, why haven't you said something about this? As many times you told us about the great turf war you never mentioned Blake," exclaimed Marie still in shock.

"I guess because it drudged up so much remorse, I just repressed those memories, lass, seeing that old squid badge it was just a grim reminder of the past, of Blake, I didn't want to say anything," said Cuttlefish with a saddened look downing his head.

"wait... the squid badge, you were the one that escaped the Shellendorg Institute and was shot by agent 3," said Marie looking back at Blake.

"Yeah, that was me," said Blake rubbing the back of his head. "Wait, agent 3, that was the squid girl that shot at me?" said Blake with slight confusion.

"Well, we didn't know what you were at the time, we thought you might have been an octoling in disguise," explained Marie. "Wait, did you come out of that pod from Pirahna Pit?" asked Marie.

"Yeah, and it's called a cryostasis pod, It froze me in time, that's how I fought in the great turf war with your grandfather and how I'm standing here in front of you," explained Blake.

"you mean to tell me that pod allowed you to survive all this time," said Marie in disbelief.

"yep, It sounds unbelievable, but it's true, your grandfather is the one who found me in it years ago," said Blake.

"This is so, fascinating, humans have been extinct for thousands of years, what do you think Callie? Callie?" said Marie noticing Callie hadn't said anything during the conversation and turned toward her cousin.

Callie's face was red as she was locked on Blake seeing him shirtless and being the only live human she ever saw.

"Callie? are you...ok?" asked Marie.

Marie waved her hand in from of Callie's face. Callie soon shook head and pressed her hands together with stars in her eyes. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! This is so fresh! A real live human!" said an excited Callie. She rushed over to Blake blushing with awe.

"How was life like when humans were around? What were humans like? Are their more of you? I have soooo many questions," said Callie unsuccessful at containing her excitement as she was incredibly close to Blake.

Blake was unsure how to take Callie's expression and started lean back from Callie being so close. Blake chuckled awkwardly. "Woah Woah Woah, one question at a time, I've been hiding out all this time," said Blake trying to calm Callie down.

"I sorry but this is so exciting! It's just..." said Callie as she was pulled off by Marie.

"C'mon Cal, the human's had enough, I'm sure he's tired and doesn't know what to think about us since he's been frozen this whole time," said Marie as she pulled Callie to the side.

"Maaarieee, you didn't have to pull me by the ear in front of Blake like that, I'm not a hatchling," said Callie frustrated and blushing.

"you act like one sometimes, Cal, and you sure it isn't because he's a guy," smirked Marie crossing her arms.

"I do not and no it's not that, it's just he's the only human that we've seen alive," said a flustered Callie soon sticking her tongue out at Marie and turning her head away from her cousin.

"I'm sorry about her, my name is Marie and that's Callie, we're known as the squid sisters," said Marie as she turned towards Blake with both of them giving their signature pose.

"Nice to uh, meet you gals," said Blake rubbing the back of his head.

Blake shook Marie's hand and Callie blushed as she meekly shook Blake's hand. They were both puzzled as to why Blake's hand was warm.

The both of them were curious about Blake's hair and felt it as Blake felt a little awkward and blushed when Callie "accidentally" ran her hand across his chest.

Marie turned back to Cuttlefish and Blake. "It's just hard to take in that a human was the first squidbeak agent, I don't think Cass would believe this one, speaking of Cass, we gotta go find her Cal," said Marie as she turned back to Callie.

"As gramps said, maybe she'll turn up and besides we don't know where else to look," said Callie.

"Well we have to go look for her anyway, I just hope she's not in any danger," said Marie.

"Aww, but I wanna stay here and..." said Callie as she saw her cousin give a wide smirk. "...keep gramps company!" finished Callie with an irritated look toward her cousin.

"yeah, sure Callie, it ain't because of Blake is it," said Marie grinning at her cousin while Callie was trying to hide her blush.

"Girls, enough!" shouted Cuttlefish tapping his cane. "Go ahead and see if you can find the lass, Blake will stay here with me for the night," said Cuttlefish.

"Well, he does need some new clothes, we'll see if we can find him some clothes while we're at it," said Marie seeing Blake's clothes were dirty and tattered.

"Marie, isn't the opening of the square tomorrow night?" asked Callie.

"You're right Cal, that would probably be a good place to look, surely Cass wouldn't miss the concert by off the hook," said Marie.

"Go on girls, me and Blake will stay here and catch up on things," said Cuttlefish.

"Ok, gramps," said Callie downing her head.

Marie smirked and shook her head. "C'mon let's go Cal," said Marie as they headed out the door.

"We'll be back!" shouted Callie. Marie mumbled something that Callie caught. "Shut up Marie!" shouted Callie irritated at her cousin.

Cuttlefish shook his head. "Those girls can be something else," said Cuttlefish as he gave a sigh.

"They seemed nice, at least they didn't shoot at me," said Blake unsure about his encounter with the squid sisters.

"They would've if I didn't do something, now bucko you got some catching up to do," said Cuttlefish as they sat back down at the table.

* * *

Camper and Cass were trekking through the sewers with two other inklings taking point scanning the tunnels ahead of them. It had been minutes and there was still no sign of the creature they were hunting for. Camper soon received a phone call and answered it.

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Camper.

Camper's face soon turned to anger as he gritted his teeth. "What!" shouted Camper enraged. "What do you mean she got away, you idiots were supposed to be watching her!" yelled Camper.

Cass looked at Camper overhearing the conversation and thought if Izzy had gotten away, now was her chance to get away when the opportunity came.

"Who!? Cleo? I don't know any Cleo!...whatever! Just find them now!" yelled Camper as he hung up the phone, irritated as he pinched the top of his nose.

"Problems?" asked Cassie.

"Don't you worry about that! Just focus on the hunt!" barked Camper as he gestured her to keep moving.

As Cass, Camper, and the other inklings came across an intersection they looked around wondering what direction they should take. "Boss, where do we go?" asked one of the gang members. "Just, guess," replied Camper.

The inklings turned to the left and as they got out a little farther. Cass saw her window of opportunity and thought of a plan.

"Well, get a move on," barked Camper.

Cassie turned toward Camper for a moment. She then pointed behind Camper. "Look there's the creature!" shouted Cassie.

"What!" shouted Camper as he turned around then Cass punched him when Camper went to face her knocking him to the floor. She then squid formed and went to the right. The other inklings came back and saw Camper lying on the ground. Camper slowly sat up and looked at the inklings gritting his teeth.

"Get that squid!" commanded Camper. The inklings squid formed and chased after Cassie.

Camper managed to get up and kneel over trying to recuperate from the blow. "That little... Just you wait, Cass, I'm not done with you yet," said Camper as he squid formed and pursued after Cassie like the other two inklings.

Cassie made her way down the end of the tunnel. As she looked around she noticed it was the tunnel from the plaza drain that connected to Cuttlefish's. She heard the other squid coming and continued on back to Inkopolis not wanting to get the other agents and Cuttlefish involved. She made it to the drain grate and climbed up and saw no one around. The inkling girl soon shifted back to her humanoid form.

Cassie panted trying to catch her breath. She scanned for a place to hide since the plaza was empty. She decided to hide in the alleyway where Spyke hung out at and saw Camper and the other two inklings come up from the grate.

They looked around and Camper got agitated as he clenched his fist in the air. "Find her now!" yelled Camper. The two inklings squid formed and slithered away. Camper stayed back and kicked the ground in anguish.

Cassie turned around and gave a long sigh behind the dumpster. "It's too bad Camper's goons took my squidphone so I'd call Marie and tell what's been going on. I'll hang low until they give up and leave," said Cassie as she sat down.

* * *

Hours earlier, Cassie and Callie were in squid form slithering down the tunnel back towards Inkopolis. When they emerged they stretched and looked at each other.

Marie smiled at Callie. Callie looked at her confused and red-faced. "What?" asked Callie.

"Seems like you took a liking that human or should I say...crush," said Marie smirking at her cousin.

"It's not like that Marie, It's just seeing a human for the first time and him being the first squidbeak agent. Gramps sure does look up to him," said Callie.

"Yeah, It's just...I wish gramps would've said something. It's too bad Inkopolis would freak out if they saw him," said Marie.

"Well how about we introduce him at Off the Hook's concert," insisted Callie.

"Cal that might not be a good idea, I don't think Inkopolis would be ready to see that a figure of an extinct race is alive and living among them," said Marie.

"Well he can't just stay hidden forever," said Cassie with concern.

"Well, I can't..." Marie said as she stopped and looked back at her cousin with her smirk coming back. "You do have a crush on him," said Marie teasing her cousin.

"No! It's just... oh, stop it Marie!" shouted Callie in a fluster.

"I'm just squiddin' with ya Cal, lighten up," said Marie bending her arms in surrender.

"Marie, sometimes you just don't know when to quit tugging my tentacles," said Callie irritated with her arms crossed.

"C'mon Cal, let's head to the square before the concert starts, hopefully, Jelfonzo's may be open and we can get Blake some new clothes," said Marie.

"Oh...I wanna pick out his clothes!" shouted Callie. Marie just rolled her eyes. The two of them soon left the empty plaza and made their way to the square.

* * *

Cleo and Izzy were running down an alleyway toward the new square. "C'mon we're almost there," shouted Cleo as she had Izzy by the hand rushing down the alleyway.

Just then a whoosh sound emitted in from of them as squid landed ahead and formed back. It was one of the gang members pointing an ink gun at Cleo and Izzy. "You're not going anywhere!" shouted the inkling.

The two of them froze and looked at the inkling as another inkling caught up with them in squid form and changed back, pointing an ink gun at them as well. "You two have been a pain in the tentacle! Now let's go or we'll splat you both!" yelled the inkling.

"What do we do?" asked Izzy scared.

Cleo turned back to Izzy and gave her a serious look. "(sigh) Izzy, I want you to get out of here, I'll handle these two squids," said Cleo.

"No, Cleo...I," said Izzy with pleading eyes.

"Just go, Izzy! I can take care of myself, find Camper and Cass," ordered Cleo pulling out her ink gun.

"O...Ok, just be careful," said Izzy in distress as she squid formed and took off.

"Oh no, you don't!" shouted the inkling pointing his ink gun at Izzy. Just then the inkling was shot by Cleo and knocked backward.

"You little!" yelled the other inkling as she shot Cleo in the back. Cleo gave a yelp and fell down on her stomach with her gun sliding away. "Cleo!" shouted Izzy wanting to go help her but knew Cleo would want her to get away and she was unarmed herself. Izzy kept going until she could no longer see them and prayed that Cleo would be alright.

Cleo laid on the ground moaning in pain. Just then the inkling that shot her stepped on her back as she yelped. He then pointed his ink gun in the back of her head. "I should just splat you right now! But I'm sure Camper would love to talk to you and find out who you really are," sneered the inkling.

The inkling gang member that was shot slowly sat up moaning in pain and shook his head. "Get up!" shouted the inkling on top of Cleo toward the other inkling.

"That little yellow squid got away!" shouted the inkling on Cleo to the other inkling. The inkling that was shot finally stood up limping and walked over toward his buddy and Cleo. The inkling glared at Cleo and bared his teeth, he then kicked Cleo. "Little brat squid!" shouted the inkling as he balled up his fist ready to punch Cleo when the other inkling stopped him.

"That's enough! Let's get her back to base, then we can deal with her," advised the inkling holding back the inkling that was shot by her.

"Fine!" yelled the inkling. The two them grabbed the half-conscience Cleo and carried her back to their base. Cleo looked back and mumbled. "Please, Izzy don't forget me," she said weakly as she soon blacked out.

* * *

Pearl and Marina were making preparations for the square opening concert tomorrow night. Pearl was on the stage practicing her vocals while Marina was checking her equipment. Jellyfish workers could be seen carrying stuff for the concert and cleaning up the square for the audience. Just then a jellyfish with headphones and a clipboard approached the stage.

"Alright, girls, I hope you're ready for tomorrow night when the square and the new tower will be opening," said the jellyfish manager.

"We got this yo," said Pearl waving her hand.

"We're ready," said Marina looking at the jellyfish.

"Best of luck you two," said the jellyfish as he slithered away.

"I don't know what he's worried about, We're off the hook! We'll be ready, won't we Rina," said Pearl crossing her arms as she soon looked toward Marina.

"yeah Pearl, It's just he's making sure everything goes right, this is the grand opening of the square," said Marina.

"I think he's worrying too much," said Pearl with her arms crossed with a pensive look.

After a moment, Pearl spotted two tall inkling girls coming out of the new clothes shop. "It's those two again, hmm... I know they look familiar," said Pearl putting her thumb on her chin.

Marina walked up beside Pearl and looked. "yeah, come to think of it they do seem familiar since we met them a week ago," said Marina. "How about we go talk to them, Pearly," suggested Marina.

"We got work to do Rina, remember, jellyhead wants us to make sure everything is ready," said Pearl.

"Oh, c'mon, A few minutes won't hurt, we need a break anyway," said Marina.

"you want a break? Rina, you sure your feeling ok?" asked Pearl as she was surprised at Marina being she was a workaholic. "Fiiinnne" whined Pearl as the two of them walked over toward the squid sisters in disguise.

The squid sisters walked out of Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe, the new clothes store run by a jellyfish named Jelfonzo.

"I'm glad Jelfonzo let us buy clothes, even though his shop isn't open yet," said Marie.

"I hope Blake will like these, Marie," said Cassie holding up the new clothes she got for Blake.

Marie just rolled her eyes and gave a slight smirk as just then Off the Hook walked up. "Hey you two," waved Marina.

"Oh hey, It's you two again," said Callie.

The squid sisters were still in their disguises to hide their identities as Pearl and Marina still didn't figure out who they really were.

"We're sorry that we didn't meet you properly from before, It's just me and Pearl had our tentacles tied up setting up the new studio," apologized Marina. She then elbowed Pearl to say something with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, yeah we were busy and all, you two so familiar to me for some reason, I can't put my finger on though, you sure you're not from around here?" asked a suspicious Pearl.

The squid sisters got nervous as they looked at each other. "As we said before we're new here," said Callie nervously behind her sunglasses.

"Hmm... you sure about that?" asked Pearl narrowing her eyes.

"Pearly, don't be so rude, I'm sorry you two, It's just you do seem familiar to us," explained Marina.

"It's ok, we get that a lot, um...we still have some shopping to do, we have to go before it gets late," said Marie.

"Oh ok, well it was nice meeting you two, again," said Marina waving at them.

"hey before we leave, we can't find our friend, her name is Cassie, you don't mind if you two could keep an eye out for her, she's got lime-green tentacles and yellow eyes, she normally wears a white squid T and pink tennis shoes," asked Marie.

"Sure, we'll keep an eye out, hopefully, she'll be here, it is the grand opening of the square and Deca tower," assured Marina.

"We really appreciate it, well don't let us keep you from preparing for the concert," said Marie as she waved off to the two.

"Bye you guys," waved Callie as she and her cousin walked away.

"I've got my eye on those two, I know I've seen them somewhere," said Pearl in suspicion.

"Pearly, you're just being paranoid, C'mon let's get back to the stage and get ready for the concert," said Marina as the two of them walked back to the stage to continue getting ready for the upcoming opening.

The squid sisters managed to get away from Marina and Pearl and continued shopping for Blake.

"That was a close one, I'm glad we got out of there before pearl figured us out," said Marie wiping her forehead and sighing.

"Yeah, me too, I wanna continue shopping," said Callie.

"Well, all we got left is shoes and a hat," said Marie.

"Marie, what do you think of Blake?" asked Callie out of nowhere.

"Where did that come from?" said a surprised Marie.

"I just wanna know?" asked an anxious Callie.

"Um... I guess he seems ok, being gramps thinks highly of him, so I trust him even though I just met him," answered Marie.

"oh...ok, so you like him as a friend," said Callie.

Marie turned to her cousin with an eyebrow raised. "What? what is it?" asked Callie seeing her cousins's facial expression.

"Why are you asking such a question Cal?" asked Marie.

"Nothing, just wondering Marie," answered Callie slightly nervous.

"uh-huh, I think you like him," said Marie with a smirk narrowing her eyes.

"No! It's not that! It's just...Oh there you go again Marie," said Callie flailing her hands, then getting flustered and red-faced from Marie's expression.

"Yeah, you keep saying that, C'mon let's finish shopping for your boyfriend," said Marie.

"He's not my boyfriend!" shouted Callie getting irritated by her cousin.

The two of them continue walking through the square heading into the shops.

* * *

Back at Cuttlefish's shack. Blake was sitting on the old couch as Cuttlefish was informing about everything that had transpired while he was gone. Blake was amazed at everything Cuttlefish had told him about the city, the octarians stealing the great zapfish and the inklings getting it back.

"Wow, a lot has happened," said Blake.

"Yeah, bucko, times have changed, oh that reminds me, here's your squid badge back lad," said Cuttlefish giving Blake the old brass squid badge back to him.

"Yeah, I threw this at that squid girl that shot at me, I think you said she was a squidbeak agent," said Blake.

"That'd be agent 3, she's a strong lass bucko, she's the one that got the great zapfish back and captured Octavio," explained Cuttlefish.

"Wow, she captured Octavio, I hope your granddaughters find her, I hate to hear she's missing, even though she shot me in the back," said Blake.

"I hope so too, but she can take care of herself," said Cuttlefish.

"yeah, she seemed like she could take care of herself, I wish I could help your granddaughters look for her," said Blake.

"I'm sure they'll find her, They're agents 1 and 2 after all," said Cuttlefish.

"I'm a bit surprised you recruited your granddaughters on the squidbeak squad, Don't you worry about them, captain?" asked Blake.

"Of course I do bucko, it's just I entrusted them to protect the inklings from the octarian threat, they were honored to become squidbeak agents and took the responsibility of their role," explained Cuttlefish.

"They seemed like nice girls, I hate for something to happen to them," said Blake.

"seems Callie has taken I likin' to ya lad," said Cuttlefish raising his eyebrows.

"Huh? No, she's just overly excited about seeing a human, after all, humans are extinct, unfortunately," said Blake downing his head.

"Bucko, don't let it get you down. I've taken care of you and so can my grandsquids," assured Cuttlefish.

"Thanks, captain, I...just hate what I've been through, I've wished at times wondering why I survived and didn't die with the rest of my species," said Blake.

"Bucko, you should be thankful you survived, I'm glad I met you and fought by my side through the war. I couldn't live with myself losing you in that pod years ago," said Cuttlefish.

Blake just remained silent as he was stuck in thought. Cuttlefish looked at Blake with some concern and wanted to get his mind off things. "Hey, bucko! I'll be right back, I have something for you," said Cuttlefish as he walked in his bedroom. Blake had a curious look on his face.

Cuttlefish came back out with Blake's old Bamboozler in his hand. "I think this belongs to you," said Cuttlefish handing Blake the bamboo gun.

"Wow, you held on to it," said a shocked Blake.

"Of course Bucko, you might want to wipe the dust off of it though," said Cuttlefish.

"Gee, thanks captain," said Blake as he hugged Cuttlefish before he examined his old weapon. "reminds me of the good ole' days. I just wish Ammoses was still around, maybe I'll get to meet his grandson one day," said Blake aiming down the bamboozler.

"Maybe in time, Bucko, but first let's wait for my grandsquids to get back with some new clothes," said Cuttlefish.

* * *

Callie and Marie were walking down the tunnel back to Cuttlefish's. The walk was long as usual and the cousins hadn't talked since they left the plaza. As they approached the end they hopped out of the storm drain. "Hey, Marie? Do you think Blake will like these clothes we bought for him?" asked Callie.

"I'm sure he would, anything's better than what he's wearing right now," said Marie.

They walked towards the shack and opened the door. They saw Cuttlefish sitting down and Blake holding his old bamboozler.

"Grandsquids, your back, have any luck finding the lass?" asked Cuttlefish.

"No gramps, but we did ask the new pop duo to keep an eye out and let us know something," said Marie.

"Hey, Blake! We got you some new clothes," said Callie as she handed the new clothes to Blake.

"Wow, thanks you guys, I appreciate it," said Blake gratefully.

"I picked them out," said Callie as Marie rolled her eyes with a smirk.

Blake laid his bamboozler down and went into the bedroom to put on his new clothes. After a moment he walked out wearing new clothes. "Wow, you look fresh Blake," complimented Callie. He was sporting a red designer T-shirt and black cargo shorts. He also had a camouflaged baseball cap covering his hair.

"I'm sure you feel better wearing clean clothes, but you look good, Blake," also complimented Marie.

"Yeah, I'm glad to be out of those dirty smelly clothes, and thanks, I feel fresh," said Blake blushing a little.

Within an hour Cuttlefish and Blake shared their adventures from back before and during the great turf and how Cuttlefish found Blake and how Blake ended back up in that metal pod he was found in. The squid sisters were perplexed by what they had heard and were utterly in shock and awe. Marie was amazed by Blake's valor as well as Callie who was blushing and glitter-eyed from Blake's courage and taking on Octavio with her grandfather and fighting the octarians.

"Blake, I'm impressed. You fought alongside gramps in the great turf war and took on Octavio, I hate that Octavio threw you in the metal pod gramps found you in, you must hold a grudge toward that old octopus," said Marie.

"(sigh) No, I don't... I forgive him, I just wished he didn't declare war and the inklings and octarians would've lived peacefully," said Blake.

"It must have been so hard, being frozen in that pod not knowing if you were going to see gramps and the others again, it's so sad," said Callie sniffling.

"It was, But I'm glad I got to see Cuttlefish again and meet you guys, I just wish I got off to a better start when I came out of that pod," said Blake.

"Well, I'm sorry agent 3 shot at you, we weren't sure who or what you were and Agent 3 is pretty protective and committed, she's been through a lot and I have been a little hard on her," said Marie.

"I hope she shows up at the concert tonight," said a concerned Callie.

"I hope so too, Cal. Pearl and Marina will let us know something," said Marie.

"You two aren't going?" asked Cuttlefish.

"We thought about it but it seemed Pearl was pretty suspicious of us, I hate for our covers to be blown and get swarmed by our fans, I'm really not up to dealing with all those inklings that'll be there for the concert," said Marie.

"Me neither, I'm getting tired anyway," said Callie as she started to yawn.

"It is getting late, you girls better get back before it gets later," said Cuttlefish.

"Hey! how about we stay here, like a sleepover," said Callie excitingly.

"Cal, are you serious?" said Marie raising an eyebrow at her cousin.

"Well, like gramps said, it is getting late and the plaza is going to be creepy with no one around and besides, It's been a while since we've slept over at gramps, He could use the company," explained Callie.

"uh, Cal, Blake's here to keep him company, you sure it's not because of him," said Marie raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Callie blushed at her cousin's comments, while Blake was unsure how to react to the squid sister's behavior and Cuttlefish just sighed and shook his head at his granddaughters' behavior.

"Alright, I'll go get the sleeping bags," said Cuttlefish in slight annoyance.

After a while, the gang made their way to their beds. Callie and Marie slept in their sleeping bags on the floor in the den. Cuttlefish slept in his bed with Blake laying on the floor in his sleeping bag in his room. Soon everyone was asleep except for Blake or had much running through his head remembering back when he and Cuttlefish slept in the same room. Blake gave a sigh and rolled over until his eyes slowly closed and he drifted to sleep.


	24. Arc 2 Chapter 9

**Arc 2 Chapter 9**

three figures could be lying under a makeshift shelf near a beach. One was an older man, and the other two were females, one older and one younger. "Dad, well we ever see Blake again or get back to ship," asked the young girl with concern.

"I'm not sure Amy, I hope the Ark got my message and Blake's pod will eventually wash ashore," said the older man.

"James, I hope we see our son again, I miss him," said the older lady sadly.

"Me too dear, Me too, all we can do is pray for a miracle," said James.

"I'm going to give Blake such an ass-chewing," said Amy in an angered tone.

"Amy, don't be like that, we're a family, and the last thing we need to get angry with your brother," said the mother.

"Let's be calm, we'll get through this, we're all scared but we need to be hopeful and clear-minded, I'm going to go see if I can find more firewood," said James.

He got up and walked into the forest leaving his family on the beach. The two females peered back at the ocean hoping to see any signs of Blake's pod or a rescue shuttle coming to pick them up.

After a few minutes, the mother saw something in the sky headed towards them, it was getting closer and closer. It was a rescue shuttle like the one they were on when they descended from the Ark Polaris. The mother and daughter's face turned to that of joy and relief seeing they were about to get rescued.

"JAMES!" yelled the mother. James ran back to his family and rushed beside his wife. "Hon, what is it!" exclaimed James.

"Look! We're saved!" shouted and pointed the wife.

James rushed forward closer to the beach, jumping and waving, "We're over here!" shouted James, as well as his family, rushing beside him flailing their arms.

"The flares!" yelled James as he ran toward the supplies and dug through the equipment to find the flare case. He found them and opened the case. He loaded the flare gun and rushed back to the beach and shot it in the air. The flare got the attention of the small ship and turned back to the island the family was stranded on.

"Oh, thank God! It's been hours but I'm glad they sent a rescue team down for us," said James anxiously.

The ship hovered in front of them and turned towards its side. The side hatch opened and a figure appeared in the doorway. The faces of the family turned from joy to fear to see who it was. It was the director with his guards behind him. "Shame on you James for leaving us, abandoning your project, your work, I'm disappointed but don't you worry, we'll take good care of you and your family and ensure that you never escape again," said the director snidely.

"Get them!" commanded the director. soon his guards dropped off the ship and ran towards the family with their SMGs. "Down on the ground!" yelled one of the men.

"You two, run for it!" shouted James to his wife and daughter.

"Dad, no!" yelled the daughter in fear.

"James, we won't leave you!" shouted the wife also in fear.

"Just do it, It's me he wants!" ordered James.

The two females ran for the jungle with James staying back with his hands up. One of the armed men walked toward James and clubbed him with his gun knocking him on the sand. James coughed and was rolled on his stomach and restrained by one of the guards. He was pulled up and faced toward the director.

"Quite bold James, I had wished it never came to this, but you've forced my hand, I was going to spare you from the project but now I'm not so sure," said the director with a smug tone.

"I told you the serum was unpredictable and I'll have no part you plan, what you're doing is heinous, you should be thrown off that ship and just suffocate in space, you son of a bitch," shouted James as he glared at the director.

"I doing what needs to be done, how much longer until this little island disappears or any other land for that matter, our world is gone and the sea levels won't drop anytime soon, all we can do is adapt and overcome and you fail to see that!" shouted back the director.

"I'd rather die than be a part of your operation, you piece of shit, All those people, you gave them no choice in the matter!" yelled an enraged James.

"No, that would be too easy, you and your family are going to be a part of my side project," sneered the director.

"Leave my family out of this! This is between me and you Irons!" jeered James.

"Oh, don't worry my men will find your daughter and wife, don't you worry, I won't leave them here to fend for themselves, don't want to separate you from your family and as for your son, we'll keep looking for him if he's still alive, a shame though," said the director snidely with a chuckle.

"Alright! get him aboard the shuttle and find those two, the ark will be going into cryostasis in the next couple of hours," commanded the director.

The two guards shoved James as the shuttle lowered down. The guards directed James onto the shuttle and sat him down keeping guard on him. Two other guards ran into the jungle to catch Amy and her mother.

The two gals ran though the jungle scared out of their wits. feeling deep guilt for leaving James behind even though he commanded them to get away. "Mom, what about dad!" shouted a saddened Amy as she looked back.

"Amy, I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave him neither, but he would want us to be safe, we'll think of something but for now, we have to keep running," exclaimed the mother running taking hold of Amy's hand as they ran through the jungle.

"Mom! I'm getting tired can we stop and rest," asked the daughter out of breath.

"We can't Amy or we'll get caught, we have to keep going," said the mother.

"Well then let's hide, I can't run anymore," said Amy.

The mother looked around and saw some bushes near them. "Ok, then let's hide in there." pointed the mother. The two of them got behind the bushes out sight. After a moment the two of them heard footsteps running towards them and saw the guards stop and look around.

"Where did those two go!?" asked one of the guards.

"I don't know! They ran this way! Let's keep going and maybe we'll catch up to them," said the other guard.

The two guards eventually left and the two gals walked out of the bushes looking toward the direction the guards went. "That was a close one, I'm glad they're gone," said the mother.

"what do we do now, mom?" asked Amy.

"I don't know, Amy, I just hope your father is ok, let's head back to the beach while they're gone," suggested the mother.

The two of them rushed towards the direction of the beach when all of a sudden the mother was struck with something and began to feel groggy and her pace slowed down. She soon became very weak and got on her knees waving at Amy. "Amy... wait, I... can't feel my legs and I feel drained all of a sudden," said the mother trying to stay awake.

"Mom! what's wrong with you?!" shouted Amy in deep worry.

"I... don't know," replied the mother weakly. Just then Amy noticed a tranquilizer dart in the back of her mother's leg.

"Mom what's that!?" pointed Amy in fear and confusion. "Oh, no...Amy!...Run!" shouted the mother before she went unconscious.

"Mom! No!" yelled Amy with tears in eyes. She ran toward the beach until she was struck by a tranquilizer dart, like her mother. She had soon lost energy and stumbled down to the ground. She struggled to keep awake but was unsuccessful. She soon blacked out before she could hear footsteps approaching her and blurred dark figures coming out of the brush holding what looked like rifles.

* * *

Blake awoke from the dream of his family and shook his head to wake himself. He sat trying to clear his head and gave a long sigh. He looked around the room and saw that Cuttlefish was still asleep. He decided to get up and quietly walk out of the bedroom. We walked into the kitchen and then through the den. He saw Callie and Marie were still asleep in their sleeping bags and paused for a moment looking at them.

He gave a slight smile and a sigh. "They seem such nice girls. I hated that I scared them like that," said Blake as he soon turned back to the front door and walked away.

Unknown to Blake, Callie wasn't fully asleep and her ears twitched as he walked out the door. She slowly opened her eyes and turned her head towards the front door. "Blake?" she said. She soon sat up and looked toward Marie who was still asleep then back toward the door.

Blake was outside, it was still dark and the night was cool and quiet. Blake walked over toward ledge overlooking Octo Valley. He stared into the valley for a bit and looked down with a long sigh.

"So much has changed, It feels like waking out of that pod back on the beach years ago. I don't think I'll ever find my family, they could be dead for all I know," said Blake depressingly.

Blake gave a sniffle and wiped a tear from his eye. He looked down as he sat on the ground. "Blake?" a female voice asked behind him. Blake jumped and quickly turned around toward the source of the voice. To his shock, it was Callie with a concerned look on her face holding her hands together.

"Callie,... what are you doing here?" asked Blake startled.

"I heard you walk out the door and I was just a little concerned was all, what's wrong?" asked Callie seeing that something was bothering Blake.

"It's just... everything's changed, It feels like I woke out of that pod all over again like when your grandfather found me on the beach years ago. (Sigh) I'm the last human left, my race is extinct, my friends are gone, and my family is more than likely dead...I sometimes wish... maybe Cuttlefish never found me and I drowned with the rest of humanity," said Blake sadly with tears starting to form.

"No Blake! Don't say that! I'm glad you're here and so is Marie and gramps. Things will get better," said Callie as she hugged Blake making him blush a little.

"I remember the story you told me and Marie about your family, maybe their's hope Blake, you just have to keep looking and me and Marie will help you," said Callie assuring Blake with are hands on his shoulders.

"Thanks, Callie, I trust you guys, your grandfather is probably the closest of a family I got, he's like a brother to me or should I say grandpa now," said Blake with his sadness going away and giving a light chuckle.

"That's the spirit, things will get better, you'll see," said Callie with a wide smile.

"Well it's still late, I guess we better get back to the shack and go to bed," suggested Blake.

"Oh-uh, do you mind with we hold hands, it's kinda dark out here and I'm a little afraid," said Callie.

"but you walked over towards me from the shack didn't you, by yourself," said Blake raising an eyebrow.

'Well, it's just, uh... I saw you and I guess I forgot about my fear of the dark," said Callie hiding her expression rubbing the back of her head with a blush.

"It's alright Callie, I'll take your hand," said Blake holding out his hand.

"you will? thanks, Blake" said Callie with her blush disappearing.

The two walked back to Cuttlefish's shack holding hands as Blake was guiding Callie. Callie turned and looked at Blake with a smile. She soon noticed a scarred bite mark on his neck and by the shape of the mark, it looked like it was from an inkling. Callie's smile vanished and she turned her head back forward. The two walked back in the shack and Callie went back to her sleeping bag and laid down.

"night, Callie," said Blake quietly as not to wake up Marie.

"good...night, Blake," said Callie hesitantly with conflicting thoughts running through her head as she gave a quick sigh when she turned toward her cousin.

Blake laid back down on his sleeping bag and soon fell asleep. Thoughts were racing through his head about Callie's behavior and how she reminded him of someone he knew, but couldn't put his finger on it.

* * *

Izzy had managed to get away from Camper's guys, but with the cost of Cleo getting captured. She had stopped and bent over to catch her breath.

"Cleo... I'm sorry...I'll...get you out, I promise," Izzy said sadly with tears forming.

Izzy stood back up with a saddened face and walked toward the end of the alleyway. She looked around and saw she was near the new Inkopolis square. As she walked she admired the new shops and looked over the new Deca tower. "Wow, so this is the new tower, I heard this was where the turf war lobby was located, this is cool," said an amazed Izzy.

She shook her head to remind herself about Cleo and trying to find Cass.

"Izzy, snap out of it, this is no time to think about turf wars, I gotta find Cassie and get her to help me bail Cleo out, I just hope she's ok," said Izzy as she ran through the new square, just then she saw two figures in the window of the new studio, it was Pearl and Marina of Off the Hook.

Izzy looked and approached the glass. She waved at the two to get their attention, but no luck. She then decided to bang on the glass and yell at them. Marina was fooling with her equipment when movement caught her eye. "Huh?" she said.

"Pearly, their's someone outside hitting the window, I think she might need help," said Marina with a concerned tone.

"What?" said Pearl as she turned toward Marina.

"It's probably just an excited fan," said Pearl with indifference.

Pearl then turned and looked outside toward Izzy with an angered face. "Hey! the square isn't open yet! So come back tonight during the concert if you want an autograph," yelled Pearl as she signaled the inkling to leave.

Izzy looked at Pearl with surprise then shook her head. "No! I need your help!" shouted Izzy as she went to pound on the glass again.

Pearl growled and glared at the inkling for a second then turned to Marina. "Rina, call security and get this squid off the window," said Pearl insensitivity.

"Pearl, I think she wants our help. We should go out there and ask her what's wrong. Something must've happened," said Marina as she got up.

"Yeah right, like I said, probably just a frantic fan," said Pearl crossing her arms.

Marina walked outside to meet Izzy to see what was wrong. "What's the matter?" asked Marina to Izzy.

"Thank you for hearing me out, It's...my friend, she's in trouble! I need help! Please! Help me!" pleaded Izzy with tears trying to from.

"Where's your friend?" asked Marina as Pearl came walking out with an irritated expression.

"She got captured by this gang of inklings, she stayed back so I could get away, but I think she got caught, now I feel bad, Please! Help me!" explained Izzy as she pleaded with Marina and Pearl.

"Yeah, likely story, like I'll believe any of that," said Pearl in a smug tone.

"Pearl!" shouted an angered Marina as she turned and gave Pearl a mean look.

"Please excuse her, now where is your friend?" asked Marina as she turned back to Izzy with her anger subsiding.

"We ran out of this abandoned building and down an alleyway, like I said she stayed back so I could get away and I ran as fast as I could and ended up," explained Izzy as her fear was subsiding.

"It's ok, we'll see what we can do, what's your name by the way?" asked Marina giving Izzy a reassuring smile.

"It's...Izzy, Izzy Beaks and I'm a huge fan of yours! I can't believe I'm meeting off the hook right now, this is so fresh!" said an excited Izzy pumping her fist in the air.

Marina gave a chuckle and pearl just gave a sigh and shook her head. "Well I'm pleased to meet you, Izzy, I'm sure you know who we are then," said Marina.

"Your Marina and Pearl, I have all your songs on my phone! I still can't believe I'm talking to Marina from Off the Hook!" shouted Izzy as she was about to faint.

"Woah slow down, don't get too excited we need to focus on your friend," said Marina with her hand on Izzy's shoulder snapping Izzy off cloud 9.

Izzy shook her head and looked back at Marina. "You're right marina, I'm sorry, It's just..." said Izzy nervously.

"It's ok, just lead the way," said Marina as Izzy nodded.

Izzy and Marina were headed toward the alleyway at the end of the square. Just then Pearl grabbed Marina's hand. Marina looked down at Pearl.

"Marina, how do we know if she's telling the truth, I mean we could be walking into an ambush of fans or something," said Pearl with an indifferent look.

"Pearl, I believe her, She came to us for help and I'm not going to deny her that," said Marina.

"We gotta finish getting ready for the concert, Rina, why can't she go to the cops about this yo," said marina crossing her arms with an exacerbated look.

"Pearly she needs our help, It can wait until we get to the bottom of this," said marina.

"Fiiinnneee... but don't say I told you so if it's a trap or something," whined Pearl as the two followed Izzy to the alleyway.

* * *

The previous morning, Cassie was asleep as she was sitting against a dumpster near the empty plaza. After a moment Cassie's eyes slowly opened and she gave a stretch and yawned. She looked around and finally realized what had happened and where she was at. "What time is it?!" Cassie asked her self in panic.

"I don't have my squidphone, but by the look of things it seems pretty late," said Cassie as she stood up and peered around the dumpster she had sat against.

But what Cassie didn't know it was very early in the morning, way before the time an inkling would ever wake up. It was still night time at 3:00 in the morning and Cassie saw there was no one in the plaza. The plaza was spooky with none of the inklings walking around to the shops and hanging out, talking about turf war matches. It looked like a ghost town out of a creepy horror movie or something.

"Man this place gives me the creeps," said Cassie. "To think this was the hot spot of turf war players, now it's just plain deserted," said Cassie as she was looking around the empty plaza clutching herself.

Cassie then decided to head to the studio and see if the squid sisters were staying there or not, She walked up the ramp going to the studio and looked inside. Everything had been packed up or taken out. She walked around to the studio doors but they were locked. She contemplated what she should do, thinking the squid sisters probably weren't here.

"Maybe I should try Cuttlefish's," she said to herself. "He's going to kill me though for waking him up at this time of the night, but I gotta do something! Izzy's in trouble and I gotta get some help! Everyone's probably been blowing up my phone, They'd ring my tentacles for that!" said Cassie.

She soon thought of a plan and had decided to head back to her apartment in flounder heights and retrieve her Hero shot, a weapon issued to squidbeak agents. "I'll save Izzy myself, even though I'm running the risks of getting caught again, don't worry Izzy I'm coming!" shouted Cassie as she ran toward the ramp and jumped off to the ground below her. She squid formed and hastily slithered away back to her apartment.

It had been a while since she finally got to her apartment. She made her way up to her room and got her hero shot out as well as the rest of her gear for when she went on missions. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a soda out of the fridge and chugged it down. She belched and threw the soda in the trash and headed out the door. "Here I come Ross! You better be ready for when I kick your squid ass!" shouted Izzy as she made her way down.

Cassie left her apartment and made her way out of Flounder heights and toward the direction of Camper's hideout. Thoughts were running through her head how to get inside undetected and not putting Izzy in any more danger than she's already in right now. Cassie had to be cautious and smart on how to deal with Ross and his gang without them threatening Izzy. Just then Cassie heard a whooshing noise and all of a sudden an octopus dropped down in a small burst of ink and took on its other form. "So we at last Agent 3," said the figure.

It was an Octoling soldier staring down at Cassie. Cassie froze and was utterly shocked seeing an octoling appear in front of her. After a moment she shook her head and recollected her thoughts. "What the! You gotta lot of nerve coming here! Treaty or not!" shouted Cassie baring her teeth as she glared at the octoling soldier.

Cassie held her Hero Shot up at the octoling preparing to splat her. "Hold on! before you decide to shoot me, I have some information you might want to hear," said the Octoling with a displeasing look with her arms crossed.

"What would I want to hear from you octoling?! What reason would you be here and information would I want?!" demanded Cassie as she still had her weapon on the octoling.

"Pfff... stubborn squid, (sigh) I was ordered to give you information about Camper and his dealings with the octo rebels," explained the octoling still displeased talking to agent 3.

"octo rebels? what are you goin' on about? Ross,... um Camper is just a thug and a criminal looking out for himself, I know him, I... used to date him," said Cassie as she turned her head.

"Hmmm, I'm sorry to hear that, shame. back to matters, the Octarian government believes he has making deals with octo rebels, selling them reverse engineered inkling weapons, human artifacts presumably technology and was intending to steal a pod that was found at one of your excavation sites and delivered to your institute," explained the octoling slowly letting her guard down.

"What? He would never work with these "octo rebels" or whatever. He may be a criminal, but surely he wouldn't put Inkopolis and everyone in danger," said Cassie as she laid her weapon down a little off the octoling, but still had her guard up.

"You'd be a bit surprised, as you said he's only looking out for himself," said the octoling.

Cassie was disappointed at what she had heard and angry at the fact Ross would do this. Cassie looked down with anger in her eyes and clenching her fists.

"Well, anyway, we have been posing as the octo rebels in hopes to retrieve the pod and keep it out of the hands of the octo rebels," said the octoling.

Cassie looked back up at the octoling with a questioned look. "What was in that pod anyway? why do the octo rebels want it? Explain?!" asked Cassie in an angered tone.

"(sigh) I don't know why I should explain our intentions to you ink stain but fine... (sigh) Inside is what we believe was a... human," said the octoling as Cassie's jaw dropped and in disbelief at what the octoling had just said.

Cassie shook her head and looked hard at the octoling. "Bullshark! humans have been extinct for thousands of years! You think I would believe that! lying octopus!" shouted Cassie as she had her Hero Shot back on the octoling staring at her.

"You think I would be lying about this?! What else would I have been ordered to tell you this?! What else could I explain why that creature fled from you and your ink had little effect on it, back at that underpass," explained the octoling with anger on her face.

"Wait, how?" asked a shocked Cassie wondering how the octoling knew about this.

"We've been keeping tabs on everything that's been happening since that metal pod opened and that human escaped," explained the octoling.

Cassie was speechless knowing that the octolings have been spying on her and everyone else.

"Anyways, We've had a mole under Camper listening for him so he didn't try anything or botch the plans up to retrieve the pod for us, unfortunately, he did and now we have a big problem. the octo rebels have caught wind of this and may try and meet up with Camper or worse capture the human themselves, we can't let that happen," said the Octoling approaching Cassie as she had her Hero Shot still on the octoling.

"You're not telling me enough information on why these octo rebels want that human if that's what was really in that pod?" asked Cassie.

"I have no time to explain all the details squid, for now, we believe Camper has become suspicious of us. We believe our mole has been compromised because she had activated here emergency beacon we gave her just in case she was in trouble if she was found out. Their's no time, you have all the information you needed to hear, best of luck stopping Camper... for our sakes," said the Octoling.

The octoling backed and changed to her octopus form and octo jumped out of sight. Cassie looked up as she saw the octoling vanish.

Cassie came back to reality and remembered she had to rescue Izzy.

"Dang octopus," said Cassie as she sighed.

"A human, alive, that can't be, but then why would that octoling tell me this? I gotta inform Cuttlefish and the squid sisters about this, It's gonna take some time before I can get to the plaza though. I'm too tired to squid form and the sun's about to come up, I better hurry," said Cassie as she left for the plaza.


	25. Arc 2 Chapter 10

**Arc 2 Chapter 10**

It was morning and the sun was shining through the windows of Cuttlefish's shack. No one was stirring except for one figure. Blake had woken up and slowly sat up as he looked around and stretched. the human had turned around and saw Cuttlefish was still asleep and gave a long sigh.

Blake was relieved to be with Cuttlefish again but was still troubled about waking out of that pod and losing his friends long ago. He quietly walked out of the room as to not wake up Cuttlefish and stepped into the kitchen. He saw that Callie and Marie were still asleep and gave a chuckle. "Inklings do sleep-in pretty late," said Blake quietly. He made his way to the front door and walked out.

Blake held up his hand over his eyes to get adjusted to the light from being in the sewers for weeks. His eyes finally adjusted and looked back over toward Octo Valley. He studied the valley and remembered when it was once apart of the inkling territory. After a while, he gave a long sigh and recanted the memories from back during the great turf war.

Something caught his eye further over the ledge of the valley. It was covered up and Blake walked over to uncover it. "What is this? It looks like a giant tea kettle," said Blake.

As Blake studied the giant kettle a grumble could be heard that spooked Blake a little. he looked over the kettle and saw a giant octopus in what appeared to be an even larger snow globe. With curiosity, he walked over to the snow globe and studied the giant octopus. The octopus was a magenta color wearing a samurai helmet and it had a glowing green x-shaped scar on its tentacle.

"That's a big octopus," said Blake amazed.

The octopus stirred and slowly opened its eyes. The giant octopus blinked a few times and couldn't believe who was standing in front of him. It was none other than the captured DJ Octavio who was stuffed in a snow globe 2 years ago by Cassie also known as Agent 3. Octavio believed he was dreaming or being haunted by the human who he stuffed in the metal pod years ago.

Octavio closed his eyes tight then opened them again to make sure if he was dreaming or not. "It can't be," said Octavio with a deep voice utterly in disbelief seeing Blake.

"Huh?" said Blake with a surprised look.

"you're...supposed to be dead... you can't be real," said Octavio staring at Blake.

"What? Do... I know you?" asked Blake baffled.

"You don't remember me?" asked Octavio.

"um... should I?" asked Blake still confused from the giant octopus.

Octavio closed his eyes and gave a sigh. "Is their a brain in that thick skull of yours, you should know who I am, fossil..." said Octavio as he opened his eyes staring at Blake.

Blake continued to stare back at Octavio studying him. Unsure who was and why he knew him, then it soon dawned on him with a look of shock.

"Oc...tavio?" said Blake raising an eyebrow.

"You got it bonehead, but how are you alive? I stuffed you in that pod and dropped down the valley, you should be dead," said Octavio for no regard of Blake.

Blake couldn't believe it was Octavio. He remembered his last encounter with the Octarian leader and when he tried to kill him long ago.

Blake's blood began to boil and his face turned that of rage. disregarding what he said to the squid sisters and about forgiving Octavio. Seeing Octavio just reminded him of how he lost his friends during the great turf and being frozen in time again. Blake pounded on the glass as Octavio jumped and backed away with fear that the human was about to do him in.

Blake made no success in breaking the globe and backed away. "YOU TOOK MY FRIENDS AWAY FROM ME! YOU STARTED THE WAR! YOU STUFFED ME BACK IN THE WRETCHED METAL POD! YOU TOOK MY LIFE AWAY FROM ME! WE WERE FRIENDS YOU BASTARD! I LOST MIMI! AND NOW I'M NOW GONNA..." screamed Blake as he picked up a large rock and held it up intending to break the globe and pummel Octavio to mush when a voice shouted from behind and something held his arm back.

"BUCKO! DON"T DO IT! He's not with it!" shouted Cuttlefish as he held his arm with his bamboo cane. Blake turned around and faced Cuttlefish. His eyes were red from anger and tears seeing the octopus that left him for dead. Blake gave a deep breath and dropped the large rock and looked back at a frightened Octavio.

Blake's anger subsided as he saw the squid sisters behind their grandfather with concern and shock on their faces especially Callie. "You're... right, Captain. I...just, snapped, I could have...oh, god!" exclaimed Blake as he fell to his knees and cried with his hands covering his face.

Blake soon felt someone hug him from behind. He uncovered his face and turned to look over his shoulder. It was Callie with her head pressed against his, comforting him from his outburst. Blake's tears subsided and he sniffled and looked down toward the ground feeling regret from his actions.

"Blake, I'm sorry what happened to you but please don't kill Octavio," pleaded Callie with tears starting to form.

Blake felt a hand on his left shoulder. He turned and saw Marie giving him a slight smile. "Blake, remember what you told me, that you didn't hold a grudge against Octavio," said Marie reminding him.

Blake nodded to Marie and felt another hand on his right shoulder and turned his head. It was Cuttlefish giving him a reassuring look. "Bucko... let it go, I did. seeing him drop you in that metal pod years ago, I wanted to kill him too but I spared him, knowing it wouldn't bring you back," said Cuttlefish.

Marie and Cuttlefish joined Callie hugging Blake for a moment before the three of them let go. Blake rose up and turned to the three. "th...thanks, you guys, for stopping me from doing something I could never take back, even though he tried to kill me," said Blake wiping the tears from his eyes.

Blake turned and looked back at Octavio. Octavio was confused by his change in disposition knowing if the shoe was on the other foot he would want to kill him too. Blake approached the snow globe and looked up at Octavio. "I... forgive you," said Blake as his anger was completely gone.

Blake turned away from the globe and faced the gang who was smiling and proud that Blake forgave Octavio. Blake gave a smile back then sighed. "I wish you three didn't see me like that, It's just..." said Blake as he was cut off.

"It's ok Blake, we understand, it's hard to forgive Octavio for what he did to you," said Marie.

"I'm proud of you Blake, I know how cruel Octavio is but he doesn't deserve to be killed, your a better person than that," said Callie excitingly.

"She's right lad, old Octavio may be callous but I spared him and so can you, I forgave him a long time ago, now let's get back to the shack and eat some krabby cakes," said Cuttlefish.

"uuuhhhh...Krabby cakes, again! Captain...really?" moaned Blake as he gave a sigh and followed the three back to Cuttlefish's shack.

Octavio just rolled his eyes and turned away from the group relieved to not get throttled by the human.

The three of them made it back inside the shack with Blake not looking forward to eating any more cakes.

* * *

A figure could be seen tied to a chair with their head down surrounded by four other figures looking at the tied figure. The figure was an inkling that was covered in bruises with purple ink coming out of their mouth. The figure appeared to be beaten up. "we're not gonna ask you again, who are you and who are you working for?" demanded one of the inklings.

The purple-tentacled inkling tied to the chair looked up at the figure that was interrogating them. It was Cleo who was tied to the chair glaring at the inkling who was questioning her. "I already told you, I'm not working with anyone, I'm just a turfer who got sick of Camper lording over us and kidnapping those two inkling girls," said Cleo.

"Ha! You really think I believe you! Your pretty good for a turfer and a little too interested in freeing those girls. We know there's been a fly on the wall watching us since we tried to steal that metal pod for the octarians. Now! Tell us who you're working for and why you've been spying on us or else!" demanded the inkling baring his teeth.

"Bring it on! I'm not telling you anything!" yelled Cleo as she bared her teeth back.

"Alright then," said the inkling as he pulled out a knife.

"One last chance or I start cutting off your tentacles," said the inkling with a sinister grin.

Cleo had horrified expression on her face as she gulped. "You wouldn't," said Cleo in fear.

"I would, all you have to do is talk," said the inkling.

"N...Never," said Cleo trying to hide her fear.

"Very well, hold her down!" shouted the inkling

two other inklings grabbed Cleo's chair and laid her down on the floor. Cleo was now facing the inkling with the knife. The inkling grabbed one of her tentacles and cut it at the lobe but not all the way through. Cleo yelped in pain as her ink was running on the floor. "Now tell us! or I'll cut all the way through, I hate to cut off those pretty tentacles of yours," jeered the inkling.

"Screw you!" yelled Cleo clinching in pain.

"Have it your way, Hold her!" he commanded the inklings.

The inkling then positioned his knife to her tentacle lobe when the door swung opened. They were interrupted by an inkling yelling at them to come to another room with information from Camper. The inkling with knife growled and glared at the inkling that swung the door open. "Fine, saved by the bell," jeered the inkling to Cleo. They picked Cleo back up in her chair as she was panting heavily.

"Don't think this is over, I'll be back and you better think hard about talking or I'll turn you into sushi" said the inkling snidely as he punched Cleo in the stomach almost knocking her down with purple ink flying out of her mouth. The inklings left out of the room as Cleo was coughing up ink. She picked her head back up and tried to reach into her black shorts even though her hands were tied. She pulled out a small octopus-shaped device with a button and small antennae on it.

"I hope this thing works," said Cleo mumbling as she pushed the button. the button flashed red and she slipped it back inside her thin black shorts. "I hope help arrives soon, those octolings owe me," said Cleo. Cleo then gave a sigh and downed her head as she was weak from the interrogation.

* * *

Izzy had lead Pearl and Marina to the alleyway where she escaped from the three walked for minutes until she came to the spot where Cleo told her to get away. Izzy spotted purple ink on the ground and feared the worst. "Cleo, no" cried Izzy as she started to cry.

"Izzy, what happened?" asked Marina with concern as she went over to hug Izzy.

"This is where Cleo was when I..." is all Izzy could get out as she cried on Marina's shoulder.

"Pppfff... you really believin' this, Rina," said Pearl insensitively.

"Pearl! (sigh) I don't think she'd be crying if she was making this up," said Marina angrily.

Marina looked back toward Izzy who had tears in her eyes. "Don't worry I'm sure she's ok, we'll find her," said Marina with a reassuring smile.

"You...You will (sniffle) thank you, Marina," said Izzy as she hugged Marina.

"uuuhhh, yeah, yeah, we'll find you friend and all," said pearl with indifference.

"Do you know what could have happened to her?" asked Marina.

"Well if she's still alive, then she could've been captured. It was this gang we escaped from; their leader's name I think was Camper. He was grilling us for information about that mysterious creature that my friend had shot at back in Urchin Underpass," said Izzy.

"Wait, you and your friend saw the creature?" asked Marina shocked.

"yeah... my friend chased after it but it disappeared near the plaza, we don't know where it went," explained Izzy.

"your friend chased it, she must have very brave, I wonder what this creature could've been?" said Marina still in shock.

"I'm not sure, but my friend Cassie said she shot at it and it didn't phase it, much, I don't think it could've been an inkling or octoling, I'm not sure," said Izzy.

"Ink had no effect on it, fascinating," said Marina as she turned her head with her hand under her chin. "So, what I was told was true," mumbled marina quietly.

"What was that Marina?" asked Izzy hearing her mumble.

"Oh, nothing. let's just find your friend," said Marina.

"Rina! I'm heading back to the studio! there's no proof that this story of hers is true and we have to finish preparing for the concert tonight," said Pearl irritated as she crossed her arms.

"that's fine pearl, me and Izzy will find her friend if you wanna head back to the studio," said Marina as she put her hands on her hips.

Marina and Izzy continued down the alley toward Camper's hideout. They soon heard footsteps run behind them and saw pearl waving at them. "Geez! OK! I'll help you find your friend! said Pearl as she walked over to the two.

She approached Izzy and put her finger in her face with an angry look. "If your lying to us about this, so help me I'll rip your tentacles off you little squid, fan or not, now let's go!" said Pearl angrily making Izzy shiver in fear.

"Pearly! (sigh) Izzy please forgive her, It's just we've been preparing for the concert for days, it's just Pearl and me have been looking forward to the square opening for the city, but we need to find your friend, that's more important, " said marina with her hand on Izzy's shoulder.

Pearl just crossed her arms and her anger subsided. Izzy was thankful that off the hook would help her find her friend and Pearl had comforted her before they continued on down the alleyway. But unknown to them they were being watched.

A figure was watching over them from a building nearby. The figure was an octoling that had watched the group go through the alley. "It seems like that agent's friend got away from Camper's gang. They're headed back to try and free our informant, but their gonna need help," said the octoling. She then turned and pondered about Marina as if she looked familiar.

"That octoling with the two inklings...I'm sure I've seen her before, hmm... I'll have to keep an eye on them, but first I have to inform my commander about this," said the octoling as she walked away.

* * *

Back at Cuttlefish's shack, the squid sisters were about to leave and head back to the city. They had done ate breakfast and Marie wanted to go and try finding Cassie before the concert. "Well, gramps me and Callie got to run and see if we can go find Cassie," said Marie.

"Best of luck to ya, hope you find the lass," said Cuttlefish.

"Bye gramps, Bye Blake, I wish you could go with us and see Inkopolis," said Callie.

"Cal, if we took Blake with us, the whole city would panic making it much harder for us to find Cassie, we already have enough problems to deal with," said Marie shaking her head.

Marie then got stuck in thought. She had an idea but it was risky. "Hey, gramps don't we have some spare clothes here for when we're out doing field work?" asked Marie to Cuttlefish.

"Umm... I think so, I think they're in the bedroom drawer," said Cuttlefish.

Marie went into the bedroom and looked in the bottom drawer and saw their spare disguises. Marie grabbed her spare hoodie and Callie's spare sunglasses. She walked back in the den and gave them to Blake. "Here, Blake, a hoodie and sunglasses to hide your face and hair, I don't want the whole city going into a panic," said Marie as she handed him the stuff.

"ok, but why do you want me to go with you? I mean I don't want to run the risk of getting revealed," said Blake in surprise.

"Well, like Cal was saying, you could see Inkopolis without having to sneak around all the time and you can help me and Callie look for agent 3, besides I think Callie would love for you to come and keep her company, I'm sure she has a lot of "questions" for you," said Marie giving a smirk toward her cousin who was red-faced and flustering from Marie's comments.

"Alright gals, quit all this bickering and go find that agent," said Cuttlefish as he tapped his cane in irritation.

"Yes, gramps," said the girls in unison as they were startled by the cane.

"(sigh) Bucko, be careful out there and stay incognito, ok," said Cuttlefish to Blake.

"I will captain," said Blake reassuring Cuttlefish.

The three left Cuttlefish's toward the storm drain back to the city. Inside the tunnel, the three of them walked, It seemed the tunnel ran for miles and would've been a lot quicker if the squid sisters could squid form and race down the tunnel but they didn't want to leave Blake behind.

"Blake?" asked Marie.

"yeah," responded Blake.

"I was wondering, how can you speak our language? I wanted to ask before but I didn't get a chance, meeting you just put my mind into shock, I was thinking that gramps might have taught you back when you and him fought in the great turf war," said Marie looking at Blake as they were walking.

"long story short, the metal pod I was in had a device in it that allowed me to understand and speak your language when I met Cuttlefish and Octavio," explained Blake.

"Really, human technology is so... well fascinating, I don't know where inklings would be if we didn't study and use the technology you humans left behind. It's like that metal pod that you were frozen in," said an amazed Marie.

"Yeah, Blake. I mean our turf war weapons are based on human artifacts that Sheldon dug up at his excavation sights, I mean he's always been fascinated by human technology and culture. It would be nice if you could meet him, I think he would fall out and have a heart attack if he met you," said Callie.

"turf war? Cuttlefish I think said something about a sport that inklings play called that, I was confused as the only turf war I knew was the great turf war years ago," said Blake.

We'll explain later, I just wanna focus on finding agent 3 and making sure your cover's not blown," said Marie.

"You'll love it, Blake, though I'm not sure if you could play or not," said Callie.

"Cal, he's a human, he can't squid form or jump. not to mention ink doesn't have any effect on him, I don't think," said Marie as she looked back at Blake.

"Well, your agent shot me with an ink gun, it felt weird at first but then my back started to go numb and my leg too, If it wasn't for the adrenaline I think would've been paralyzed but I did get away. it lasted for an hour and really stung afterward," said Blake.

I hate to know if I got covered then it possibly could have killed me, I don't know what's in your squid ink, but I didn't like getting shot, so I'll have to pass on these turf war games your talking about," said Blake.

"Yeah, maybe it would be best if you didn't compete, I wouldn't want anything to happen to you and besides I think only inklings can play anyway," said Marie.

"I wouldn't want anything to happen to you too Blake, we just met you and you may be the only human to in existence," said Callie with concern.

"It must be difficult to be the only one of your kind left," said Marie with sympathy.

"yeah...I was hoping...I'd find my family but I'm sure their dead now, I keep having these dreams about them and I don't know what it means," said Blake depressingly.

"Blake, don't give up hope, I mean you survived in that pod-thingy, maybe your family did too and their out there somewhere," said Callie trying to cheer Blake up.

"Thanks for trying to lift my spirits Callie, but the likely hood of them surviving as I did are pretty slim," said Blake facing Callie.

The three continued until they reached the end of the tunnel and out of the storm drain back into the vacant plaza.

They headed toward the plaza studio as Blake looked around. This place looks more familiar to me now that their's no inklings hanging around. It feels like I've been here before, but I can't place my finger on," said Blake as he pondered.

"I don't see how, you woke up out of that pod weeks ago, though you were around during the great turf war, I'm sure how long Inkopolis has been here, maybe you have been here and don't know it," said Marie.

"maybe, I'm not too sure," said Blake.

"What I understand from our history this was an ancient human city, I don't know anything else other than that, Me and Cal moved from Calamari county when we were 14 years old," explained Marie as the three were walking through the plaza.

"huh, you left home at 14 years old?" asked Blake in surprise.

"yeah Blake, inklings leave home at 14, its when we are able to gain our ability to change forms and when inklings can compete in turf wars." explained Callie.

"It's just a young age, well for a human's perspective anyway, that's very fascinating. I remember when Cuttlefish showed me he could change forms, it freaked me out," said Blake.

Just as they made it to the studio a figure dashed behind them up the ramp. "CALLIE! MARIE!" yelled the figure. When they turned both girls went wide-eyed and froze in place. The girls shook their heads in unison and yelled "CASSIE!?"

* * *

Izzy, Pearl, and Marina were outside Camper's hideout peering above a short wall watching inklings guarding the front doorway of an abandoned building. "So this where you and your friend escaped from?" asked Marina.

"Yeah, this is were me and Cassie were taken to, Camper and his gang took us here wondering if we knew about the creature that me and Cassie encountered back at Urchin Underpass, Cass refused to tell Camper about the creature so he had his inklings take me to another room, after that, Cleo rescued me and we escaped until she..." said Izzy as she started to get depressed about Cleo getting caught.

"Izzy, don't you worry, we'll think of something," said marina putting a hand on Izzy's shoulder.

"Rina this is crazy! What can we do! We need to get a hold of the cops yo!" shouted Pearl with her hands in the air.

"I hate to say this but she's right Izzy, we aren't gonna be able to handle this, we don't have our turf weapons with us and we don't know what we'll be dealing with," explained Marina.

"If the police show up they could hurt Cleo or worse...we gotta do something!" exclaimed Izzy in distress.

"Izzy, if we do anything, we could run the risk of getting caught ourselves," explained Marina.

"Well, I'm gonna go save Cleo, help or not!" shouted Izzy aggravated.

Izzy squid formed and slithered towards Camper's hideout. "Izzy, Wait!" shouted Marina trying to stop her.

"Let her go Rina! stupid squid, she's not gonna listen, let's call the cops," said Pearl.

"Pearl! we can't just let her go in there! I'm going after her!" said Marina as she octo formed and went after Izzy.

"Rina! uuuhhh... wait for me!" yelled pearl as she moaned and squid formed after Marina.

The three snuck inside the Camper's hideout in an attempt to find and free Cleo and stop Camper and his gang. As they made it in the decrepit and graffiti-ridden building, they snuck past the inklings and crept threw vents to avoid detection. As they made it deeper in the building security was getting tighter with inklings carrying ink guns. "Make sure no one gets past here unless they know the password, got it!" ordered an inkling to another. The inkling nodded while the other walked off.

"Well great, what do we do now," said Pearl irritated as they were back in their bipedal form looking around a corner.

"I don't know but I bet Cleo is being held up ahead somewhere," said Izzy.

"Izzy, like I said we don't have our turf weapons and I'm not sure how we're gonna get past those guards," said Marina.

"Don't worry, I think have a plan," said Izzy.

"Oh great, can't wait to hear it," said pearl sarcastically.

Marina just turned and gave Pearl a displeased look. "What? she got us in this dilemma in the first place!" yelled Pearl quietly.

Marina shook her head and turned back to Izzy. "I hope you know what you're doing Izzy," said Marina.

"Don't worry Marina, I got this, I hope," said Izzy as she looked back at the gang members.


	26. Arc 2 Chapter 11

**Arc 2 Chapter 11**

Both squid sisters were flabbergasted at the sight of Cassie standing down the ramp after she had been missing for days without any contact. Marie and Callie were wide-eyed and speechless while Blake held his composure and turned his head so Cassie wouldn't be suspicious of his presence knowing she was the one who tried to apprehend him back in the alley.

"CASSIE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! ME, CALLIE AND GRAMPS HAVE BEEN WORRIED SICK! WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER YOUR DAMN PHONE! WHY DID YOU..." yelled a very agitated Marie when she was cut off by her cousin.

"Marie! What's it matter! She's safe and sound! That's all that matters," said Callie calming her cousin. She rushed down and pulled Cassie in a hug. "Cassie! I'm glad your ok!" shouted Callie.

"Ca...Callie...I can't... breathe," said Cassie getting squeezed by Callie.

"Ooopps...sorry Cass," apologized Callie as she let go of Cassie. Cassie gasped for air as she was bent over trying to catch her breath.

"(sigh) Cal, what am I going to do with you," said Marie as she shook her head.

As soon as Cassie got back her composure she faced Marie with an irritated glare. "I've been tied up with CAMPER AND HIS GANG! I COULDN'T CALL YOU IF I WANTED TO SO GET OFF MY BACK!" yelled Cassie in anger.

Marie was startled and moved back, away from Cassie as she was shocked by her outburst but chose to stay reserved and hear Cassie out even though she wanted to lay into her for her insubordination.

"Please you two stop yelling! Let's be glad that Cass is ok," pleaded Callie trying to cut down the tension.

Cassie started to calm down as well as Marie as she was rubbing her arm, feeling guilt for yelling at Cassie. "I'm glad you're ok too, Cass, and I'm sorry I yelled at you," apologized Marie to Cassie.

"I was trying to explain to you about my situation and yes Marie, I forgive you. I'm glad I escaped though but we gotta go back and free Izzy," said Cassie.

Just then Cassie noticed the hooded figure next to Marie and Callie. "Who are you?" asked Cassie with a demanding tone.

"It's...a long story He's...'" said Marie as she was cut off.

"Marie, don't tell her he's..." said a distressed Callie. Blake looked over and waved his arms to Marie to not reveal his identity.

"Cal, there's no one else around, now may be the best time to let Cassie know," said Marie.

"Know what?" asked Cassie raising an eyebrow.

"Cassie, please don't freak out to what you're about to see," said Marie with a serious look.

"Marie, what's going on?" said Cassie with concern.

"(sigh) Alright Blake, show her," ordered Marie.

"Marie, are you sure about this?" asked Callie.

"yes, Cal, we can't hide him from everyone forever," said Marie as she looked over to Blake nodding her head.

Blake nodded his head back and pulled over his hood and took off Callie's spare sunglasses.

"WAAAHHH! IT'S THAT CREATURE FROM THE UNDERPASS!" yelled Cassie in fear. She jumped back and aimed her weapon at Blake as he put out his hands to shield himself from the shot.

"CASSIE DON"T!" yelled Callie as she got in front of Cassie before she shot Blake. "He's our friend! Don't shoot him!" shouted Callie as she had her arms up shielding Blake.

"WHAT!? But he's the..." said a flabbergasted Cassie.

"She's right Cassie, lower your weapon. like I said it's a long story," said Marie.

The three of them gathered around with Blake away from the group relieved he didn't get shot by the inkling girl again like before. He watched the group as Cassie veered over to study him every so often with both curiosity and suspicion. Callie and Marie want over how they found Blake and how he was a squidbeak agent back in the day during the great turf war and what Blake had told them during his time with Cuttlefish. Cassie couldn't believe what she was hearing and was absolutely speechless of Blake's tales.

The group eventually broke off with Cassie walking over to Blake. Blake instinctively stepped back and had a worry-filled face unprepared for what Cassie was going to do. Cassie had a serious look on her face as she scanned Blake. Blake gulped and gave an awkward smile and wave hoping the inkling girl wouldn't hurt him. "(sigh) I'm sorry... that I shot at you back at Urchin Underpass," said Cassie half-apologetic.

"We asked her to apologize to you for shooting you, Blake and we went over what you and gramps told us," said Marie.

"yeah Blake, now we can all be friends and this misunderstanding can be settled," said Callie with a smile.

Cassie turned back to Blake who had a curious look on his face.

"So you're a real human, I don't think anyone has seen one alive before. I'm sorry I shot you, but you did hit me with that squid badge," said Cassie crossing her arms.

"Speaking of which, I honestly can't believe a human was in the squidbeak platoon, this is amazing, I mean how could a human be in the Squidbeak platoon. Your not even an inkling, you can't produce ink or squid form, how did you battle the octarians?" asked Cassie unable to contain her excitement.

"Well, I had no say so in the matter, Cuttlefish I guess you could say drafted me in the squidbeak, I really didn't want to fight the octarians even though they started the war in the first place," said Blake.

"Sorry to hear that, I'm glad you helped out the inklings though, I guess the war couldn't be averted. I'm still just fascinated that a human is the first squidbeak agent, I just have so many questions," said Cassie in utter shock.

"Ok, Agent 3 contain yourself and show some discipline in front of the first squidbeak agent," said Marie from a serious to slight smirk as she looked at Blake.

"(Sigh) that's not necessary Marie, after all, I'm not a squidbeak agent anymore, as far as I'm concerned," said Blake before he slowly shook his head.

"Of course you are Blake, just because Octavio stuffed you in that pod-thing and gramps thought you were dead doesn't exclude you out of the squidbeak squad," said Callie.

"Callie...I...I just don't feel like I should join the squidbeak squad, I mean I didn't want to be in it in the first place but that doesn't mean I wasn't going to stop helping Cuttlefish and the inklings. I was still obligated to do my duty which was to protect the Valley like Cuttlefish. your gramps was like a brother to me and being thrown back into that pod, I feared I would never see him again and I felt I failed the inklings and the valley. Some agent I turned out to be. I couldn't even save myself," said Blake as he downed his head.

"Blake, that's not your fault, you fought with great honor and valor. Gramps and the inklings owe you a lot for what you did. You did your best and that's all that matters. When anyone joins the squidbeak squad they know they are putting their lives on the line to protect Inkopolis from any threats and are willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, I say you done just that, Agent Zero," said Marie giving Blake a smile.

Callie and Cassie soon got beside Marie and smiled back at Blake as well. Blake just gave a long sigh and smiled back as it seemed the girls were wanting him to stay in the squidbeak squad and it appeared he had no say so in the matter.

"I guess this means I'm agent zero again, Alright you guys, I'm in," said Blake.

"Yay! Blake's a squidbeak agent again!" shouted Callie as she rushed toward Blake giving him a tight hug.

"Ca...Ca...Callie, you're squeezing my ribs," said Blake suffocating for air, surprised by Callie's strength.

"Oh my gosh, Blake! I'm sorry!" said Callie in distress as she let fo of Blake.

Blake gave a deep breath as he was kneeling down on the ground. "I thought (pant)I was gonna (pant) die for a minute, wow your strong!" said Blake catching his breath.

"You'll have to forgive Cal, Us inklings are all muscle, after all, she forgot humans have skeletons, she didn't mean to hurt you," said Marie.

"It's...ok, she didn't mean it," said Blake pressing his shoulder with his hand.

"Hey! not to break up your little moment, but we gotta go save Izzy from Camper!" shouted Cassie.

"Oh... right, let's go! Blake, you're gonna have to stay here, here are the keys to the studio, we'll be back," said Marie pulling her keys out.

"No, I'm going with you, It's me they're after, I'm sure of it after all, they tried to steal the cryopod I was in," said Blake.

"But, Blake I don't want them to catch you," said Callie in distress.

"I'll be fine, I'll stay out of sight unless y'all need me," said Blake.

"(sigh) Alright Blake, let's head out then, me and Cal already got our weapons and Cass has hers, Blake... you're not armed," said Marie with a concerned look.

"I'll be fine, I'll manage," said Blake reassuring Marie.

Marie gave a slight smile and then turned her head. "Alright, let's go," said Marie as the four of them left for Camper's hideout.

* * *

Izzy, Marina, Pearl were devising a plan to get past Camper's guards and make their way to free Cleo. Izzy had told Pearl and Marina that she had planned to make herself a distraction in order for the two of them to find Cleo hoping to lead the guards away in an attempt for them to recapture her before Camper made it back. "Are you sure this will work? what if you get caught before we find your friend?" asked Marina with uncertainty.

"I know it will work, I'll do my best not to get caught," said Izzy.

"you sure this is gonna work yo?" said Pearl who was getting a little loud.

"(shhhh) Pearl! Be quiet or we'll get caught," said Marina covering Pearl's mouth.

"Huh, who's there!" shouted the inkling as he heard Pearl.

The inkling walked toward the gang's direction as they were nervous as to what to do. Just then, Izzy had no choice but to jump out and direct the guard away and follow through with her plan. "Hey, squid! I bet chu' can't catch me!" shouted Izzy as she surprised the inkling guard. "Hey! It's that little twirp that escaped yesterday!" yelled the guard getting the attention of other guards.

Izzy squid formed and slithered away. "Hey get back here!" shouted the guard. He soon squid formed and chased after her along with three other guards. Izzy lured the guards away from the large room ahead while Marina and Pearl looked with shock.

Pearl shook her head as she grabbed Marina. "Alright, Rina let's go!" shouted Pearl as she had a hold of Marina directing her to move.

"I hope she'll be ok," said Marina as Pearl drug her to the next room.

Pearl and Marina ran into the large room the inklings were guarding. They looked around to see if they could find any trace of Izzy's friend. "Hey! Rina! Come here!" yelled Pearl startling Marina.

Marina turned toward Pearl who was studying a chair in the middle of the room. There were small puddles of purple ink around the chair.

Marina covered her mouth and slowly walked over to Pearl and the chair. "Wha...what happened? Is that?" pointed Marina with a horrified expression.

"Yeah, Rina, I'm not sure if her friend is..." panned Pearl as she was cut off by a terrified Marina. "Don't say that Pearl! She's gotta be here!" shouted a scared Marina.

"These sick squids, how could they do this to one of their own?" said an angered Pearl.

"Pearly...let's keep looking, I'm sure she's alive, we gotta find her and fast," said Marina as she placed her hand on Pearl's shoulder.

"(sigh) fine, but where do we even start?" asked Pearl.

"Let's check the surrounding rooms, maybe she's in one of them," said Marina as she rushed over to one of the rooms.

Pearl then gave a sigh and shook her head. She went over to the opposite side of the room and started checking the rooms like Marina.

Marina and Pearl went from room to room with no luck until Marina came across a locked door. Marina knocked on the door and could hear a faint voice on the other side. "Pearl! Their's someone in here! Give me a hand!" shouted Marina. Pearl rushed over toward Marina where the door was.

"Alright! Stand back Rina!" directed Pearl as she backed up away from the door in an attempt to charge and ram the door open. She hit the door and landed on her back dazed from the impact. "Huuuuhhhh..." moaned Pearl as she slowly sat up placing her hand on her head.

"Pearly! Are you ok!" asked Marina in shock.

"yeah...I'm fine...uuuhhh, my head," said Pearl as she was still feeling the recoil from the door.

"Pearl, I don't think you thought that through," said Marina trying not to giggle at Pearl.

"You got a better one!" said Pearl angrily seeing Marina was giggling at her.

"I'm sorry Pearly, I didn't mean to laugh at you it's just..." said Marina as she was cut off by Pearl's glare.

Marina gave a sigh and helped Pearl back up. As she contemplated how they could open the door.

Marina closed her eyes and bent down toward the lock. She pulled out an s-shaped hair clip and bent it to fit into the door lock. "Wait, isn't that the hair clip I gave you after we met at Mt. Nantai?" asked Pearl bewildered.

"Yeah, I'm glad you gave me it," said Marina as she was lockpicking the door.

"Rina? You sure that's gonna..." said Pearl as the lock clicked and Marina slowly opened the door.

Marina looked at Pearl with a snide look and Pearl just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

The two slowly walked in and saw a figure lying on the floor with their back turned. The room was dark so the two of them were extra cautious unsure if this was Izzy's friend or not. The figure appeared to be an inkling with long purple tentacles, It apparently was a female by the style of her tentacles. She had her arms crossed over toward shoulders and her legs bent. She had cuts and bruises all over her and had a pained expression on her face with tears in her closed eyes. The inkling had definitely been through a lot.

"Hey! Are you ok?!" shouted marina as she rushed over to the figure laying down. Marina shrugged the figure as she didn't respond. "C'mon, wake up!" shouted Marina.

The figure moaned and slowly opened her eyes. "huh? what's going (cough) on?" the female inkling said weakly.

"Pearly, she's alive, but she's injured. we gotta get her to a hospital fast," exclaimed Marina frantically.

"Who... are you? (cough)" asked the female inkling.

"I'm Marina and that's Pearl, We're Off the Hook," said Marina as she wanted to pose but knew was not the time.

"Off the hook? Wait? That...new pop duo?" asked the inkling trying to get her energy back.

The inkling's blurred vision came into focus as she sees Marina kneeling by her. Her eyes soon widened as she could not believe Marina was in front of her. "M...M...Marina? Pearl? wait, why are you (cough) here?!" asked the inkling as she clinched in pain trying to sit up.

"hold up, your hurt. We need to get you to a hospital, is your name Cleo?" asked Marina holding onto the inkling girl.

The inkling nodded and was still surprised by the appearance of Pearl and Marina. "How do you...know my name?" asked Cleo.

"Izzy told us about you two and how y'all got caught by Camper and his gang. She led us here to come and get you," explained Marina.

"wait, Izzy went to get you guys? Wh...where is Izzy?" asked Cleo with concern.

"She... lured the guards away... so we would come and get you," said Marina rubbing her arm in distress.

Cleo downed her head thankful that Izzy went for help but hoping that Izzy didn't jeopardize her life for hers. "Cleo...we gotta go before anyone shows up, and you're badly injured and looked like you lost quite a bit of ink," exclaimed marina.

Cleo looked back at Marina and nodded. "Th...Thanks you guys, I hope...Izzy's ok," said Cleo.

Cleo attempted to get up but she was very weak and Marina grabbed a hold of her before she fell back down on the floor. "Think nothing of it, I'm sure the squirt's fine, let's just ditch this place before any of those squids show back up yo," said Pearl.

The three of them made it out of the room with Marina holding Cleo's arm over her shoulder helping her walk even though she was badly hurt and weak.

* * *

"Just wait until I get a hold of that little..." said Camper bitterly as he was holding his gut from the blow Cassie gave him. Camper and some of his crew were walking back toward his base unable to find Cassie or the creature they've been looking for.

"What do we do now that the guys back at the base informed us about that purple headed gal that helped Cassie's little friend escape?" asked one of his crew members.

"I hated that we lost that little brat, but we got the one who helped her escape though, the sooner we find out who she is and who she's working for the better," said Camper.

"Sir, what about the octo rebels? They're still waiting for you to contact them, what do we say!?" asked the inkling concerned.

"I don't know! First her little friend now Cass, I'm goin' to splat both of them when I..." said Camper angrily as he was cut off by a burst of ink that shot in front of them. It was an octoling elite with a scar across her right eye even though you could make it out with her goggles on.

Camper jumped back landing on his butt while the inklings behind him were startled with their weapons drawn on the octoling.

"Shit, what now," said Camper recoiling from the hard landing. He got up and looked at the octoling uneasily. "great, what do you want?" asked Camper in a smug tone.

"Where's the subject?" asked the octoling elite brashly.

"(sigh) you see, we had captured an inkling named Cassie and she knew the whereabouts of the creature and we..." explained Camper as he was cut off by the elite.

"Just get to point!" shouted the elite harshly.

"We lost the agent and the creature, but it wasn't our fault! If it weren't for Cassie we would've..." continued Camper but was cut off again by an impatient elite.

"Excuses! Stupid ink stain! I should've never trusted you with something as simple as retrieving that metal pod from the institute," shouted a very angry elite.

"Hey! It wasn't that simple! How was supposed to know in the first place about that creature inside, what is that thing anyway and why is it so valuable to you octarians anyway?" asked Camper in an agitated tone as he was glaring at the octoling as she was glaring back behind her goggles.

"That's none of your concern inkstain, seems you couldn't have been entrusted with this job anyway, stupid inklings, I have no idea how you squids won the great turf war," said an irritated elite.

"You keep calling me inkstain and I'll splat you! right in the mouth!" yelled Camper angrily as he pointed his N-Zap at the octoling elite.

"Don't even try it! You'll be a puddle of ink before you even pull the trigger!" shouted the elite as a laser beam was pointed at Camper from an octosniper on the roof a building overlooking where they were at.

Camper slowly lowered his N-Zap and growled at the octoling elite.

"That's what I thought, you have one more chance to redeem yourself, squid," said the elite brashly.

Camper kept staring down the octoling elite with uncertainty on whether to trust the octoling or not. His crew was still ready for anything that the octoling might try staying mindful of the situation.

"We've caught wind that the new Octarian government is tracking the Octo rebel movements and has sent a detachment to spy on us and intercept all of our operations. We suspect that one of their operatives is posing as us and attempted to obtain the pod from you, I didn't think you dumb squids would ever suspect it though, so we've been keeping back waiting for your little mole to eventually come out," explained the octoling elite.

"That must've been that purple-headed brat that the guys captured, I knew I smelled a rat," said an angry Camper clenching his fist.

"Don't think she worked alone, she must be in contact with the operative, we need to head back to your base ASAP," demanded the elite.

"I'll handle this!" shouted Camper at the octoling elite.

The octoling elite didn't budge and just raised an eyebrow. "Hmpf, like you handled the other two," said the elite smuggly.

"Shut up octopus!" yelled Camper.

"Fine, but don't screw this up! Me and my team will still be providing overwatch once you reach your base, don't consider this a favor because it isn't, you still owe us squid!" said the elite harshly.

The octoling elite octo formed and shot out in the air out of sight with the octosniper disappearing too. Camper's crew members walked up to Camper who was brooding over the confrontation. "Sir? Are you sure we can trust her?" asked one of the inklings. "Yeah, I mean she's still an octoling," said another.

"We have no choice, let's just get back to the hideout and make our little birdie sing," said Camper as he and his gang rushed back to the hideout.

* * *

Cassie, the squid sisters, and Blake were rushing toward Camper's hideout in one of the rundown neighborhoods. The streets were empty and the buildings were vacant. Walls and dumpsters were riddled with graffiti and streets were littered with trash and debris.

"What is this place?" asked Blake.

"It's just an abandoned part of the city, no one knows why? Everyone just left all of a sudden," said Cassie.

"It's creepier than the plaza," exclaimed Blake.

"Yeah, how much longer until we get there?" asked a scarred Callie.

"Just a little longer if we could squid form then we would've done been there, but I know we can't leave Blake behind and get him lost," explained Cassie.

"Yeah, we don't want a human wandering around the city, talk about making the job harder," said Marie.

"Hey, before we get there, what do you suggest I do, since It's apparently me their after," asked Blake.

"I would suggest you stay out of sight, I know you wanna help Blake but you're too valuable, me and Callie would hate for you to get caught, we don't what their intentions are for you, I don't think gramps would want to lose you again, your practically family," said Marie with a slight smile.

"Awww, Marie that was a nice thing to say, I don't wanna lose Blake neither to those jerks," said Callie happily.

"ok, you guys, keep your minds on the mission, we're almost there," said Cassie with seriousness.

The four of them made it outside Camper's hideout watching the front doors in a side alley. They saw multiple inklings guarding the front door and the roof. "That's the place," said Cassie.

"How do you wanna do this Marie?" asked Cassie.

"If we do a frontal attack, Camper may getaway and we don't know how many inklings we'll be dealing with, not to mention their's only three of us not counting Blake," said Marie.

"So what do we do Marie?" asked Callie.

"Hmm... We should see if there's another way in and catch Camper by surprise," said Marie.

"I'll go scout out for another way in, Marie," said Cassie as she squid formed and went toward the side of the hideout undetected.

"Be careful, Agent," said Marie as Cassie left.

Cassie slithered in her squid form as she looked for any other way in the building. She eventually came across a storm drain beside the building and saw it sas possibly a way in. Cassie went down the drain and landed in an underground small tunnel. It was big enough for the four of them to crawl through. She decided to go further down the tunnel and see where it leads. When she reached the end it was blocked by a vent grate. She passed through in her squid form and slithered to the center of the basement.

It was cluttered with old wooden crates and barrels. She scanned the room and didn't see anyone inside. She walked toward a staircase that led upwards and she heard voices emanating from on top of the staircase. She decided to investigate and slowly walked upwards toward a doorway. When she reached the top she peered out of the corner of the doorway and saw a few inklings walk away chatting about turf matches. She decided that this would be the best way in and that the gang could probably sneak past the inklings while they too busy talking with one another.

Cassie squid formed and retraced her steps back out of the hideout and back to Blake and the squid sisters.

"Alright, agent, what did you find out?" asked Marie.

"Well, Agent 2, I found a storm grate going into a tunnel that leads down to a crawl space going into the basement. once there I went up a staircase going back up with a handful of inklings occupying the next room, I think we can sneak past them," reported Cassie.

"Good work Agent 3, that maybe our only option," said Marie.

"Alright, Agent 1 you ready to do this?" asked Marie to Callie.

"Yep, I'm ready," said Callie energetically.

"How bout' you, agent 0," asked Marie to Blake with a slight smirk.

"good I guess," said Blake giving Marie a displeasing look, but soon smiled.

"Ok let's do this and remember agent 0 to stay out of sight unless we absolutely need you," said Marie.

"Got it," said Blake.

The four of them made their way to the storm grate. Cassie, Marie, and Callie squid formed when they jumped in. Blake pulled up the grate and hopped in after them. Once in they crawled to the other end of the tunnel and made their way in the basement. Cassie led the three up the stairs and to the doorway. Cassie peered out of the corner again and saw no inklings.

"Huh, we're in luck, they're gone, we don't have to worry about sneaking past them, especially with Blake with us," said Cassie.

"That's good then, let's keep going, lead the way agent 3," said Marie.

The four of them walked into the large room and Cassie lead them down a hallway. They slowly walked down the hallway being cautious as not to run into any of Camper's gang. As the four were walking they heard voices coming towards them around the corner of another hallway.

"Oh crap!" said Cassie quietly.

"What do we do?" asked Callie as she panicked.

"Quick! Run into one of the rooms," ordered Marie.

The four of them frantically went to the closest door near them. "It's locked!" shouted Cassie.

"Mine too!" shouted Callie.

"So, is mine!" also Marie.

"This one's open, quick in here!" directed Blake as the group hurried into the room. The room was very small and appeared to be a cleaning closet. There was no light and the gang was stumbling among one another.

"Cal, your tentacles are in my face!" shouted Marie.

"Well, Marie is elbowing me!" shouted Cassie.

"Someone's, on my shoulders," moaned Blake.

"Shush!" They're getting closer!" directed Callie.

As the four of them tried to get situated they were losing their balance as they soon fell out of the closet and landed in front of the figures that were walking down the hallway.

"AAAHHH!" the gang shouted as they burst out of the doorway into a pile.

When the dust cleared and the gang tried to recollect themselves. Callie and Marie were rubbing their heads and moaned. (Gasp) CALLIE?!" yelled the figure. (Gasp) MARIE?!" yelled another figure. The girls turned their heads to see who called their names and when they saw the figures that called their names they went wide-eyed and speechless.

* * *

Izzy was slithering down a hallway on one of the upper floors toward the roof. She planned to squid jump off the building once she got to the roof in hopes to get away from the inklings chasing her and Rendevous with Pearl and Marina. The inklings were closing in on her as they yelled at her. One of the inklings in squid form attempted to pounce on Izzy but Izzy managed to speed up and avoid the squid.

"Almost there," said Izzy to herself as she had almost made it to the door to the roof. All of a sudden a squid jumped out of nowhere and blocked her way. Izzy scrambled as she attempted to stop but it was too late. The squid grabbed her and squeezed her. "Gotcha! Twirp!" yelled the squid snidely.

Izzy attempted to squirm free but it was futile. "Let go!" Izzy shouted.

"With pleasure!" replied the squid who had a hold of her. He flung against the wall and she fell down on the floor half dazed from the impact.

The inklings turned back to their bipedal form and grabbed Izzy still in her squid form.

"Looks like we got ourselves some calamari, time for her to join her friend," said the inkling with a sinister smile as he had a hold of Izzy.

The inklings made they're way back to the lower floor with Izzy being held. As they were walking down one of the hallways all of a sudden a shot had rung out and magenta-colored ink burst in front of them on the floor. The inklings jerked back from the ink burst almost getting struck. "What the!" shouted the inkling in the lead.

The inklings frantically looked around for the shooter. "Who fired that shot!?" yelled another inkling scared out of his wits.

Then in a split second, an octopus jumped out of the ink in front of them and tackled the lead inkling. "WAH!" shouted the inkling as he was thrown back into the rest of the group. The group stumbled and fell to the floor unsure what had just happened. The inklings turned in front of them and saw the small octopus jump up in the air and turn to her bipedal form. She had red tentacles and wore goggles like other octoling regulars as she stared down at the inkling group who was still in shock.

"What!? Hey! What's the big idea!" shouted the lead inkling still trying to recover from the tackle.

"Hey! Ain't she supposed to be with the octo rebels, why did she shoot at us!?" asked a bewildered inkling.

"I don't know, but I don't care! stupid octopus! you're gonna pay for tackling me to the floor!" jeered the tackled inkling.

Just then the octoling jumped and flipped up in the air. She had done a flying kick against an unprepared inkling that was behind the lead inkling knocking them back onto another inkling. The lead inkling whipped out his splattershot but it was knocked out of his hand and soon felt the octoling punch him in the face making him fly back from the hit. The three inklings were knocked out while the fourth inkling held a splattershot jr. to Izzy's squid form.

"Get back! Or I'll shoot! You and Her!" shouted the scared inkling holding the weapon up to the octoling then back to Izzy still unconscious in squid form.

The octoling just smirked and cut a flip in front of the inkling, landing right in front of the inkling. The Octoling pressed toward the inkling's face and yelled "BOO!"

"AAHHH! Don't splat me!" yelled the inkling as he dropped both Izzy and the weapon. he squid formed and fled down the hall out of sight.

"Wuss," said the octoling as she approached an unconscious Izzy. She picked her up and examined her. After a moment Izzy's eyes opened up. Her vision was blurry for a second but as her sight cleared up she could make out the figure that just saved her. "Huh? An...OCTOLING! AAAHHH!" shouted a panicked Izzy facing an octoling who had a hold of her.


	27. Arc 2 Chapter 12

**Arc 2 Chapter 12**

Time stood still for a moment as the squid sisters and Off the hook as they were staring down each other unsure why the other was doing here. Just then, Marie shook her head and snapped back into reality noticing her's and Callie's disguises were blown from the may lay. Marie's mask and hat were laying on the floor as well as Callie's cap and sunglasses were also knocked off. "Oh, crude!" was all that Marie could get out. "What's the matter Marie!?" asked a panicked Callie.

'Our Disguises Cal!" shouted Marie with a blush.

Callie then spotted her sunglasses and black cap on the floor. She panicked and felt her head frantically. "Oh, No!" shouted Callie realizing her identity was revealed.

"Callie!? Marie!? What are you two doing here!? Wait, that was you two back at the square?!" exclaimed Marina who was in utter shock.

"I knew I recognized them!" shouted Pearl.

"Wait! We can explain!" exclaimed Marie waving her hands.

"Well you got a lot of explaining to do cuz, you two were supposed to head back to Calamari County!" shouted Pearl with aggravation and shock.

"We um... Well,...Marie," said Callie frantically as she turned to Marie to help her out.

Marie downed her head and gave a sigh. "A guess we can't hide it...We're...agents...for the squidbeak squad," explained a defeated Marie.

"Squidbeak Squad? What are you talking about?" said Pearl with her arms crossed.

"Our gramps operates it...we...watch over Inkopolis, we helped get the great zapfish back from the octarians and Octavio," explained Marie.

"Well Agent 3 was the one who brought back the great zapfish and caught DJ Octavio," said Callie as she pointed to Cassie.

Cassie was rubbing her head and recoiling from the fall. She turned towards pearl and Marina carrying a half conscience Cleo. She then blushed and downed her head unsure how to react to the duo.

The duo seemed to not notice Blake was lying on the floor as their eyes were glued to the squid sisters. Blake moaned as Marie covered his mouth and moved to shield Blake's body out of sight. "What was that?" asked Marina.

"Uh, nothing the three of us are still hurting from the fall," said Marie as she gave a nervous smile.

"What were you guys doing in there in the first place? Why are you three here anyway?" asked pearl with impatience.

Just then Cleo gave a moan and coughed. "Who's she?" asked Marie with concern clearly seeing Cleo was badly hurt.

"Her name's Cleo, she was... tortured by Camper's gang...she needs medical attention immediately, that's why we were here, we followed Izzy here," explained Marina.

"Wait, Izzy! Where is she!?" asked a frantic Cassie.

"Just a moment Cass, one thing at a time! (sigh) First things first, let me see your aid kit Cass, we need to treat her first, put her on the floor," ordered Marie as Cass handed her the red pack. Marina placed Cleo on the floor with Marie kneeling down treating her wounds. Pearl and Cass watched over while Blake was still lying on the floor with Callie on top of him.

"(sigh) I'm sure how we're going to explain this one, Blake," said Callie in relief. "Blake?" said Callie as she looked around until she found out she lying on Blake, not to mention where she was sitting, in his lap.

Callie turned red-faced and yelped with embarrassment. She quickly got off Blake and looked over him. "I'm Sorry! I'm sorry Blake!" Callie exclaimed trying to apologize.

"What? It's ok Callie, I'm sure you didn't mean it," said Blake as he was rubbing his head trying to relieve Callie from the awkward situation.

"So...you're ok with me, I mean I..." said Callie blushing, trying to get her words out.

Cassie then turned around facing the two and gave a long sigh. "Hey! Cal! Blake needs to hide or get out sight before Pearl and Marina see him!" She shouted quietly.

Blake and Callie shook their heads looking for a hiding spot for Blake. Blake then turned back to the closet and rushed inside it and closed the door. Callie got up and walked over to Cassie and the group treating Cleo.

Blake peaked out of the door and gave a sigh. "Deja vu, I'm hiding in a closet from two more girls, what a day it's been," said Blake.

Marie had finished up treating Cleo and got up. "This will help, but she needs to be taken to a doctor, I'm not sure how you're going to be able to get her outta here without getting caught though," said Marie.

The group pondered what to do when all of a sudden. "(cough) don't worry about (cough) me just... find Camper and... stop him," said a weak Cleo who had soon woke up.

"No, we're not doing that! you need a doctor and soon," said Marie with protest.

"I'm fine, just...go," said Cleo.

"Marie we may have to get her out through the front doors, I know we'll run the chance of getting caught packing Cleo out, we'll just have to deal with Camper another time," said Cassie.

"(sigh) agreed, let's go," said Marie.

Marina picked up Cleo with the help of Marie. Cassie led the group down the hallway with Marie and Marina carrying Cleo on their shoulders. Pearl stayed behind them and Callie waited back until they got their distance so she could talk to Blake. Once they started moving away Callie approached the closet and opened it.

"(sigh) they're out of sight Blake, just stay behind but far enough where they won't see you," said Callie.

Blake nodded and started to come out of the tiny room. Blake gave a sigh as he faced Callie then looked down.

"Callie... I'm... sorry I'm putting you guys through all this, now an inkling could've been killed because of me, maybe I should... just give myself up to Camper and his gang, It's me they want, not you guys!" said Blake in a depressed tone.

"No! Blake! Camper has to be brought to justice for what he's done and like Marie said. We don't want to lose you and neither does gramps, we may never see you again!" said a distressed Callie as she rushed to hug Blake.

Blake hugged Callie back but slowly pulled her off and gave her a serious look. "Cal, I... have to... I don't want to see anyone else get hurt because of me," said Blake.

"I... won't let you!" shouted Callie as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Callie listen! I'll never forgive myself if you, Marie, Cassie, or anyone else gets hurt or killed because of me," said Blake wiping Callie's tears off her face.

Callie's face had darkened as she looked down with thoughts stewing through her mind. She saw how selfless and courageous Blake was and how she desperately didn't want him to hand his self over to Camper. She bit her lip and quickly looked back up at Blake with her golden eyes. She gulped and quickly latched to Blake's face and gave him a deep kiss. Blake froze and was in complete shock from what Callie had done.

Callie broke away after several seconds with a beet-red face and tried to contain her emotions for the human. "Ca...Callie, what was... that? I..." was all Blake got out as he was at a loss of words.

Callie turned her face as she became extremely nervous, as to hide her true feelings for Blake. "I...I...I don't know what came over me!" said Callie frantically.

Blake just stared at Callie with a look of shock and Callie turned her head again to hide her blushing face. "I'm s...sorry Blake I..." said Callie nervously as she covered her face.

"Hey Callie!" a voice down the hallway yelled.

"That sounded like Pearl, quick hide back in the closet Blake!" said Callie as she panicked.

Blake shook his head snapping back into reality and rushed back in the closet and closed the door.

Pearl came around the corner and saw Callie. "Cal, what are you doin'? Marie was worried about you, we need to go!" shouted Pearl out of breath.

"I'm... fine, I'll catch up," said Callie.

Pearl studied the squid sister and saw that she was hiding something. "Um, Cal what's going on? who were you talking to?" said Pearl with a serious look crossing her arms.

"Huh, no one! It's just I, was thinking out loud, that's it," said Callie nervously trying to hide her lie.

"Right, well...let's get back to Marina and them," said Pearl as she started to turn and walk back down the hallway.

Callie saw Pearl get out of sight around the corner and wiped her forehead. "Phew, that was close, ok Blake just remember what I said," said Callie as she opened the door to talk to Blake.

Blake nodded and was still speechless from Callie's expression. Callie smiled at Blake with a warming expression on her face. "I...wanna talk...later, after we get out of here," said Callie, as she slowly closed the door but unknown to her knowledge, Pearl was peering around the corner watching Callie talk to someone on the other side of the closet door.

"Who was she talking to, wasn't their four of them, who's the other?" said Pearl as she froze in thought. Pearl shook her head as she heard Callie approach and decide to hold off on grilling Callie about why and her cousin were there and who was she talking to in the closet.

"Oh, hey pearl, um, I'm ready to go," said Callie hesitantly.

Pearl raised an eyebrow and gave a small sigh, "C'mon let's catch up with them," said Pearl as she waved off toward Callie and the two of them ran down the hallway toward the rest of the gang.

Back in the closet, Blake had much running through his mind. Blake was wondering why Callie had kissed him and noticed that she had acted oddly around him for some time, not long after they met. Blake downed his head and gave a deep sigh. "I know she liked me but I didn't know she liked me that much," said Blake. Blake picked his head back up and peered out to see if anyone was around.

Blake held on to the doorknob and looked to the direction the gang went. Blake gave another sigh and shook his head. "I'm sorry Callie, but you remind me too much of Mimi and you're Cuttlefish's granddaughter, you're practically family to me," said Blake as he slowly made his way down the hallway being extra cautious around his surroundings.

* * *

Izzy was squirming trying to get out of the octoling's grasp. "Hey, Hey, Hey! Hold on squid! I'm not gonna hurt you," explained the octoling.

"What!? you're not?" said a shocked Izzy still in squid form.

The octoling put the scarred squid down on the floor. Izzy just stared at the blank-faced octoling that was standing over her. She soon turned back to her bipedal form and studied the octoling.

"Wait, did you... save me?" asked Izzy still shocked by the octoling.

The octoling just remain quiet for a few seconds until she turned and walked away. "Don't mention it, squid," said the octoling with no emotion.

"Huh, hey! wait up!" shouted Izzy as she ran toward the octoling walking away from her.

The octoling stopped and turned toward Izzy with a blank expression. "What?" said the octoling brashly.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me," thanking Izzy.

"Don't mention it, I wasn't here to save you, I'm here on important matters, so stay out of my way inkling," was all the octoling could say.

"geez, you don't have to be rude about it, what are you doing here anyways?" asked Izzy.

"none of your business, squid. If I were you, I would get out of here before more of those ink stains show up," said the octoling coldly as she turned back around to walk away unconcerned about Izzy.

"Hold up! I wanna come with you!" shouted Izzy as she reached out to the octoling.

The octoling stopped to turn, slapping Izzy's hand away. She had an irritated look on her face behind her goggles. "Don't think, saving your squid butt as a favor and no I don't need your help, you'll just get in the way squid!" said the octoling angrily not in the mood for an argument.

"well at least tell me your name," said Izzy rubbing her hand.

"(sigh)...just call me Spider," said the octoling.

"Spider?" said Izzy with a confused look.

"It's my codename, that's all you need to know," said the octoling getting agitated.

"Ok, ok, but why did you save me?" asked Izzy still confused.

"Let's just say I was sent on a mission to stop Camper and his goons, just didn't want anyone getting killed and the blame fall back on the octolings," explained Spider.

"But you're an octoling why would the octarians be concerned about this?" asked Izzy.

"Quit asking questions squid! I got a job to do, so fall behind and keep up or I'll knock the ink right out of you!" snarled the octoling as she was losing her patience with Izzy.

"Ok! I'll stop asking! don't hurt me!" exclaimed Izzy as she was waving her hands in surrender.

"Good, now come on," said the octoling as she waved for Izzy and continued walking down the hallway.

Izzy was unsure what her savior's problem was but she decided it would be best to do what she said.

* * *

Camper and some inklings walked back into the hideout ready to interrogate Cleo. They were greeted by more inklings that rushed up toward him with panicked looks on their faces. "Um, camper," said one of the inklings nervously. "Oh great, what know!" shouted Camper expecting to hear bad news.

"Boss, we lost the purple-headed girl but we don't think she escaped on her own, she and her rescuers have gotta still be in the building," explained another inkling.

"What do I have you guys for! idiots! I should splat all of you!" yelled Camper startling the other inklings.

Camper turned is head and pinched his nose. He growled and turned back to the inklings that informed him. "Fan out and search this place! Now!" barked Camper as the inklings scattered to hunt for the intruders.

The inklings looked through rooms and down hallways. So far they had no luck finding Cleo's rescuers. They made their way back to Cleo's cell down a hallway in squid form hoping to stumble upon any clues.

Off the Hook, Cleo, the squid sisters, and Cassie were slowly making their way down toward the end of the hallway with Blake trailing behind at a distance. Cassie was leading the group when she spotted the end of the hallway. "We're almost there," said Cassie. It seemed the gang was halfway out of the hideout when all of a sudden squids appeared at the end of the corridor.

"Intruders!" shouted one of the squids. "Inform Camper!" yelled another squid.

"Oh crap! Guys run for it! shouted Cassie as she shot at the squids. The squids dodged the ink shots and turned back to their other form and fired back at Cassie and the group. Cassie, Callie, and Marie got into fighting positions and aimed their weapons at the inklings. The inklings took cover at the end of the hallway.

"Quick you guys head back and look for another route!" shouted Marie.

Marina nodded as she still held on to Cleo who was unresponsive. "Pearl! give me a hand!" should Marina as Pearl rushed over and took Cleo by the arm and slung it over her shoulder.

"Rina...I'm too... short, this is...a little difficult," groaned Pearl struggling to keep up Cleo.

"Pearly! you just have to try, let's head back the way we came," said Marina. The three of them stumbled back toward the room Cleo was in while Cassie and the squid sisters held back Camper's gang of inklings. The three of them made it around the corner as Blake panicked as he saw them approaching not noticing him yet.

"Shit! Why are they coming back this way! I gotta hide somewhere fast!" shouted Blake as he frantically looked around for a hiding place. He then decided to head back toward the direction of Cleo's room to evade from being spotted.

As Pearl, Marina, and Cleo pushed back, Cassie lobbed a splat bomb toward the inklings. "Splat bomb! Get back!" shouted an inkling. The inklings squid formed and dove back from the blast as Cassie and squid sisters followed Marina and the others.

Blake ran into a large lobby area and looked around for a hiding spot. He then decided to instead go down another hallway on the opposite side of the lobby. Blake rushed down the hallway and was soon met by more squids that were slithering down the hallway towards him. "Gotta hide! Gotta hide!" scrambled Blake as he hid in a side room before the inklings spotted him.

As the squids slithered by Blake peered out of the door and saw they were gone. "Phew, that was too close," said Blake with his back against the wall. Blake examined the room as it seemed large. he turned on a light switch and saw multiple ink-based weapons laying against the wall and on tables as well as ink tanks. "This must their armory or something, look at all these weapons," said Blake in amazement.

Blake walked around admiring the weapons. "I'm used to a bamboozler, but I didn't know inklings had weapons like these," said Blake. he soon stumbled across some splat bombs laying on a table as well as an inkstrike pad and torpedo. "Woah, what is this thing?" asked Blake as he stared at the inkstrike pad.

After a moment Blake heard footsteps coming towards the door, "Hurry up and arm yourselves!" shouted a voice. An inkling came bursting through the door as Blake dove out of sight behind a crate. "Alright! Grab any weapon you can!" shouted the inkling again as more inklings scrambled to grab ink guns and splat bombs. Blake managed to quickly snatch a splat bomb before the inklings rushed in.

"All right does everyone have a weapon!?" asked the inkling in a commanding tone.

"Yeah, Camper we're ready to fight," said an inkling.

"Good! let me grab the inkstrike pad and... wait," said Camper as he noticed that the inkstrike pad had been moved.

"Someone's been here," said Camper as he picked up the pad.

"Search the room!" yelled Camper directing the inklings. They had their weapons drawn looking around equipment and under tables for anyone else that was in the room.

"Oh crap! I can't let them find me!" quietly shouted Blake. He then looked at the splat bomb he took and thought of a plan. he decided to Jump up and lob the splat bomb toward the inklings. "What the! Splat bomb!" shouted one of the inklings. The inklings dove for cover as a few weren't so lucky and got hit only knocking them out. Blake rushed out around the group while they were in shock but Camper spotted him running out of the room.

"Who... was that?!" asked Camper recovering from the event. "That didn't look like an inkling... you two go after it!" shouted Camper as two inklings nodded and squid formed out of the room and pursued Blake.

* * *

Meanwhile, the gang made their way back to the large lobby surrounded by small rooms. They could see inklings coming down the surrounding hallways. "Looks like this ius gonna be our last stand," said Cassie cocking her hero shot.

"Don't say that Cass!" said a scarred Callie.

"Alright, get ready, Marina, Pearl get Cleo back to the room she was in and stay hidden," ordered Marie.

"But what about you three?" asked Marina distressed.

"We'll be fine, just go!" shouted Marie gesturing Marina to go. Marina nodded and she and Pearl carried Cleo to the small room she was found in.

"I've been ready to shoot these jerks all day," jeered Cassie.

Marie then thought about Blake. "Hey, wait a minute! Where's Blake, I haven't seen him!" asked Marie in light panic.

"I told him to stay back so Marina and Pearl wouldn't see him, I don't where he went to," explained a frantic Callie.

Marie facepalmed and shook her head. She looked over to Callie with a displeasing look. "Cal! you supposed to keep an eye on your boyfriend!" shouted Marie.

"I know but, wait... he's not my boyfriend!" shouted Callie embarrassed by what Marie had said with a red face.

"You two stop bickering, here they come!" shouted an agitated Cassie.

squids had slithered out from the hallways and surrounded the three of them. They then soon shifted to their humanoid form and aimed their weapons at Cassie and the squid sisters. The room stood still as the three were unsure how to get out of their dilemma. They were well outnumbered and concerned that they would eventually find Marina and the others in the room.

"Drop your weapons!" shouted one of the inklings.

"We have you surrounded!" shouted another one.

The three of them didn't flinch as they locked on to the inklings that had surrounded them. "What do we do guys?" whispered Callie.

"I... don't know," replied Marie.

"Stop talking! Who are you and what are you doing here?!" shouted an inkling. Cassie was wearing her hero gear while Callie and Marie were still in their disguises unrecognized by the gang members.

"Speak! Or we'll splat you where you stand!" shouted the inkling again.

After a moment the inklings waited for the three intruders to answer but the inkling's patience was wearing thin. Cassie contemplated on a plan, but it could cost her life if it meant for everyone else to escape. Cassie gave a long sigh and turned to the squid sisters who looked back over to her with puzzled concerned looks.

"Guys...it's been a pleasure working with you," said Cassie.

"Cassie...what are you talking about?" asked a concerned Marie.

"I'm going to provide you guys a way out, just go when I lob the first splat bomb," whispered Cassie.

"No Cass! You'll get killed!" shouted Callie.

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make if it means you guys escaping," said Cassie.

"Agent 3, I won't let you do that!" exclaimed Marie.

"Marie, didn't you tell me that agents are willing to defend all inklings at any costs?" said Cassie reminding Marie of the squidbeak oath.

"I...(sigh) We appreciate your services and we'll never forget you, should you fall in the line of duty," said Marie with saddened giving a false smile.

"Cassie...no, We..." said Cassie with tears forming.

"It's ok Cal, I knew what I was getting into when I joined Squidbeak, I just never thought it would fighting my own kind though," said Cassie trying to reassure Callie.

The squid sisters nodded and got ready to make a break for it once Cassie gave the signal. Though the cousins didn't want to go through with the plan and were praying for a miracle to happen.

* * *

Blake was running down the hallway with two squids chasing behind him. Blake was running out of options as he saw no doors to run in and the squids were gaining on him. He turned the corner and saw a ventilation shaft on the side of a wall that was open. He rushed inside of it and closed the vent. The two squids rushed by and hadn't noticed him going into the vent. They changed back and scratched their heads. "Where did it go! We almost had It!" said a frustrated inkling. "I don't know? Let's keep going," said the other one. They squid formed back and kept going down the corridor.

"(sigh) good, they're gone, now to see if I can get back to Callie and them," said Blake as he crawled threw the ventilation system. He squeezed through going threw every bend he came across until he reached the end of another vent. He opened it to see if the coast was clear. he looked down both directions of another hallway and saw no one.

As Blake crawled out and brushed himself off he heard loud voices coming from the end of the hall back towards the large lobby. he slowly approached the end of the hall and peered out. His face turned to that of horror. Cassie, Callie, and Marie were surrounded by inklings that had ink guns drawn on them. Blake had froze, unsure of what to do without giving himself away. Blake then thought and had no choice but to give himself up hoping the inklings would let them go.

"Times Up!" shouted one of the inklings.

The inklings were ready to fire on the girls once they were given the command. "Alright, then...inklings fi..." shouted the inkling as he was cut off by a figure that came out of the shadows of the hallway across from them. The inkling went wide-eyed as well as the others when they turned to see the figure. It was Blake with his hands up, the inklings near him jumped and quickly backed away from Blake unsure what he was.

"Don't kill them! I'm the one you want!" yelled Blake in surrender.

Cassie, Callie, and Marie were wide-eyed and in utter shock to see Blake walk out and reveal himself.

"Blake no!" yelled Callie.

"Well, well, well...isn't this a surprise," said a voice that came from behind the commanding inkling. The inkling turned around and were startled. It was Camper holding his N-Zap pointed at Blake. "Sir, We...uh..." was all the commanding inkling could get out before Camper shot him a glare.

"Can it!" shouted Camper at the inkling as he gulped and moved away.

"So, my information was true, it was a human in that pod, after all, the octo rebels were right then," sneered Camper.

"Octo rebels?" said a dumbfounded Marie.

"That's right, they paid me to retrieve the pod that was dug up at Piranha pit, but unfortunately this human had to escape, lurking about, around the city, hmpf... and I thought humans were intelligent, willing to give yourself up for these pathetic excuses of inklings," sneered Camper with a smug tone.

"They're my friends...and they're not pathetic, the only one I see pathetic is you!" jeered Blake glaring at the inkling.

Camper had gotten angered by that comment and bared his fangs at Blake pointing the weapon back up on Blake.

"Pathetic huh, I should just splat your friends in front of you fossil, then we'll see who's pathetic! yelled Camper in anger.

"How about just you and me, if you got the guts that is!" shouted Blake tough-talking trying to give the girls an opportunity to flee.

"Hmpf, human, I could beat you with one tentacle tied behind my back but then again, I've never played by the rules," said Camper with an evil grin.

Camper activated his Inkstrike and the torpedo jerked about on Camper's back until it took off and flew into the air. The torpedo went straight for Blake and he didn't have time to evade as it struck in front of him. Blake was consumed by an explosion of ink and was launched back into the wall behind him. Blake yelped in pain as he hit the wall hard and landed on his stomach on the floor motionless covered in ink.

"BLAAAKKKEEE!" screamed the girls. Callie saw that Blake wasn't moving and she started to cry on Marie's shoulder.

"Bastards! You'll pay for that!" yelled Cassie in anger ready to kill her ex-boyfriend.

Camper just gave her a smug look with an evil smirk.

The room was full of tension as you could cut it with a knife. Cassie was waiting for the opportunity to lunge at her ex-boyfriend Camper. The squid sisters were consoling one another for the loss of Blake hoping to get out of their situation and Blake was on his stomach covered in ink with no signs of life. It appeared that the gang was doomed as they had little to no options to escape and get free from Camper and his gang.


	28. Arc 2 Chapter 13

**Arc 2 Chapter 13**

Izzy and the octoling that saved her were running down a flight of stairs toward the lower levers. Once down they ran into a large room that appeared to be some kind of conference room with tables placed together surrounded by chairs. As they walked around the tables the octoling heard something and stopped. "Stop," she told Izzy.

"What is it Spider?" asked Izzy.

"I don't think we're alone," replied Spider.

"Hmm...crap! get down squid!" shouted Spider as she grabbed Izzy down to the floor. A shot of ink came close to hitting Izzy and the octoling. The shot came from above the suspended ceiling. It was dark and two sets of red lights in the form of eyes moved back and forth through the rafters of the ceiling.

"That was close, you alright squid?" asked Spider as she got off of Izzy.

"Yeah, thanks for saving me again, and it's not squid! my name's Izzy!" said a relieved but also irritated Izzy.

Spider turned and looked up, she turned her goggles on to infrared, even though oceanics put off a low heat signature she would still see the figure in darkened areas. As she scanned, she didn't see anything until a figure flew down with her boot out in an attempt to knock spider off her feet. Spider jumped back from getting kicked as the figure landed in front of them. It was the octoling elite that had talked to Camper before with the scar across her eye.

"Ha, if it isn't the little interloper, didn't think they would send a little shrimp like you for a mission like this," said the octoling elite smugly.

Spider was just slightly shorter than your average octolings as the elite was taunting her. "Well, if it isn't Scarface, a smart ass, as usual, didn't think you show you're pretty little face again after getting that scar across your eye," sneered Spider.

The elite bared her teeth and took the goggles off her face revealing her green eyes and blue irises. She also had purple eye marks like other octolings for say the scar that ran across her right eye. She glared at the octoling regular with the intent to finish her off.

"Don't think I've forgotten how I got this," said the elite as she pointed to her scar.

"I'm guessing you didn't come here for a little meet and greet did you," said Spider placing her hands on her hips.

"If you have to know, yes I'm working with those inkstains manning this hideout and yes, I'm well aware of your little mole, thought you and the new octarian government were going to put a monkey wrench in our little scheme didn't you but I was two steps ahead of you and your false ruler," said the elite in a smug tone.

"You will be stopped and your band of misfits, the octarian government will not stand by and let you jeopardize the peace treaty you traitors," said Spider.

"Traitors huh, how I see it, you're the traitors! You just discarded our ruler Octavio and sold us out for some zapfish when we could have taken over the Inkling territory like we should have done a hundred years ago!" exclaimed an angered elite staring down the octoling.

"You know as well as I do! We've would've never made it if we didn't pursue a treaty with the inklings and obtained enough zapfish to power the domes, at least the squids allowed us to come up and visit or reside in the city, at least they gave us their word, Octavio was too focused on building more octoweapons to think of a better alternative energy source to power our domes," said Spider also staring down the elite.

"you and those other turncoats would side with those inkstains over Octavio and the rest of your kind! I'm going to enjoy killing you Sargeant," jeered the elite.

"Bring it on! Major," shouted Spider getting into a fighting stance.

* * *

Marina was watching and had looked in horror as Blake had been struck by the torpedo from the inkstrike as a tear fell down her face. She covered her mouth to cover her whimpering seeing the human lay motionless on the floor. Marina knew of Blake from her reports sent by someone on her laptop unknown to everyone else. She wiped her eyes and a look of dread came across her face.

"Rina! what's going on?!" asked a concerned Pearl.

"Huh, nothing! We need to stay out of sight, the girls are surrounded by Camper and his gang and their's nothing we can do," said marina.

What!? we gotta do something!" shouted Pearl.

"Shush, Pearly we're not even armed and Cleo needs to be taken to a hospital," said Marina getting aggravated at Pearl.

Pearl crossed her arms. "Pfff, I would've run out there and started kicking their squid butts with my mad skills yo," said Pearl doing Kung fu poses.

Marina just rolled her eyes and placed her hand over her forehead shaking her head embarrassed by Pearl's actions.

"How is Cleo doing?" asked Marina.

"She's still out yo," replied Pearl.

"All I can do is pray for a miracle," said Marina.

During the stand-down, Cassie gritted her teeth and was ready to pounce on Camper for killing Blake when his guard was down when all of a sudden Blake's body started moving as he raised up coughing ink.

"Blake?" said a shocked Callie still crying as she lifted her head of Marie's shoulder looking toward Blake.

"Impossible," said a shocked Camper.

"You failed to realize...that ink...doesn't have much effect on a human, but I'm still weak, I can hardly move," said Blake as he gritted his teeth in pain.

Callie rushed over to Blake and sat him up, laying his head on her lap. She wiped the ink off his face as he gave her a smile. Callie smiled back as she asked him if he was ok.

"Yeah, I'm (cough) fine, Cal," said Blake.

While Camper was still speechless, Cassie took the opportunity to pounce on Camper and disarm him. Camper yelped as Cassie threw punches at him as she had him pinned to the floor. "Get off me Brat!" screamed Camper as he was trying to block her hits. "You sorry bastard! This is for hurting me and my friends!" yelled Cassie. She then swung her Hero shot toward his head but was blocked when Camper held out his N-Zap to stop the strike.

Cassie applied as much force as she could toward Camper with him holding her weapon back with his N-Zap. He then kicked her off and stumbled up. "I'll deal with you later, focus on grabbing the human, he's the real prize," barked Camper. The inklings then focused on Blake and Callie aiming their weapons.

Marie jumped in front of the two with her Charger. "Cal, get Blake out of here! Me and Cassie will hold them off!" ordered Marie.

Callie nodded and she picked Blake up by his arm around her shoulder. Cassie was sitting up on the floor with her hand on her head recoiling from the kick. "Hang on Marie!" yelled Cassie as she saw Marie fighting off some off Camper's guys.

Marie was taking shots at the inklings that were further out splatting them while hitting them with her weapon if they got too close. An inkling with a roller attempted to swing their roller on top of Marie. Marie blocked the roller with her Charger and flung the attacker back. The inkling made another attempt to swing down the roller on top of her only to be splatted from behind by Cassie.

Marie looked at Cassie and thanked her. Marie and Cassie shortly turned toward the inklings and got ready for another onslaught. Meanwhile, a group of inklings moved in on Callie and Blake with their ink guns drawn. "Hand over that human!" shouted one of the inklings.

"You're not hurting Blake!" yelled Callie as she placed Blake down and pulled out her roller.

"So be it!" shouted the inkling.

The inklings shot at Callie as she twirled her roller blocking the shots. When they got done she jumped at the first inkling slamming her roller down on him turning him into a puddle of ink. The other inklings looked in horror as they tried to refill their tanks. Callie swung her roller at another one throwing him against the wall. he splatted as soon as he landed on the floor. The third inkling didn't have time to refill as Callie jumped in front of him giving him an evil look.

"Don't splat me! I don't need this job!" screamed the inkling boy as he dropped his weapon and squid formed out of the area. Callie giggled with her hand covering her mouth. She turned and saw Blake being dragged by one of Camper's guys and came to her senses. "Let go of Him!" yelled Callie as she swung the roller over her shoulder.

The inkling dropped Blake and aimed his splattershot jr. at Callie hitting her in the chest. Callie yelped and fell back, dropping her roller. "That'll teach you squid," sneered the inkling as he continued to grab the human.

"Callie," said Blake weakly as he wanted to punch the inkling that was dragging him away. Blake tried to struggle to get free as another inkling came and helped the other one drag him off. "quit fighting human!" shouted the inkling as he took his splattershot jr. and hit Blake in the face knocking him out. Blake blacked out and Callie reached out toward Blake screaming his name as she was lying on her stomach.

The fighting continued on as more of Camper's guys were getting splatted. They were no match for Cassie and Marie as the two agents flipped, dove, and maneuvered from the attacks and shots the inklings were landing on them. Cassie was shot in the back when she landed back down with her guard down. She kneeled down in pain, thankfully she was wearing splat armor or she would be an ink puddle. "Cass!" shouted Marie rushing over to her shooting another inkling that tried to rush her.

"Little intervening squid," sneered Camper as he was the one that shot Cassie with his N-Zap. An inkling rushed over to Camper and reported to him that Blake was in their possession. "Good, we got what we wanted, have the guys fall back," ordered Camper.

"But sir, what about the girls?" asked the inkling.

"leave them to lick their wounds, we got what we wanted! We'll call that octoling and inform her that we have the human and to meet us outside of the city," said Camper as he walked off.

Marie was helping Cassie get up while scanning and looking for Callie and Blake. She soon spotted Callie lying on the floor and rushed over toward her. "Cal! Cal!" shouted her cousin. She kneeled over and turned over Callie who was still breathing. Callie slowly opened her eyes and stared at Marie. She quickly sat up and hugged Marie. "It's ok, Cal," exclaimed Marie hugging Callie.

"No, it's not," exclaimed Callie with sadness in her voice. "They got Blake!" she explained.

"What?" said a concern Marie.

"I'm sorry, Marie...I...I couldn't save..." exclaimed Callie as she started crying.

"Cal, It's ok...we'll find him," said Marie as Callie wiped her tears sniffling.

Marie helped Callie up as Cassie walked up to them. The group then heard a pair of footsteps running down the hallway towards them. They got their weapons ready but when they saw the two figures finally enter the room, they froze but Cassie went wide-eyed as she recognized one of the figures and dropped her hero shot on the floor.

* * *

15 minutes earlier, Spider and the elite she referred to as Scarface were locked into hand-to-hand combat. Izzy stood back crouched behind a chair watching the two octolings fight each other. Spider threw punches at the elite but she evaded all of them. "Ha, is that the best you got Sarge?" sneered the elite.

Spider growled and attempts to throw a hard jab at the elite only for the elite to grab her arm and throw her to the floor. The octoling coughed as she laid on the floor from being thrown. The elite quickly jumped up and attempted to stomp the octoling. Spider rolled away and the elite missed her mark.

Spider got back into her fighting stance and signaled for the elite to come at her. The elite bared her fangs and clenched her fist. She rushed at the octoling regular and threw her own punches. one punch managed to hit Spider in the jaw as her goggles flew off revealing her eyes. unlike the elite's eyes they were white with green irises but still had purple eye rings like other octolings.

She recoiled from the punch holding her jaw and spit out magenta ink on the floor. "Not bad major," jeered the octoling wiping her mouth.

"Hmpf, you can still take a beating Sargeant. I love it when my opponent can actually fight back," said the elite smugly getting back into fighting stance.

Spider got ready for the elite as she didn't notice the elite had a knife hidden behind her as a deterrent if she felt she was faltering.

"Let's go then," said spider.

The elite lunged and grabbed hold of the octoling trying to pin her to the floor. Spider managed to free her arm and punched the elite in the face knocking her backward. The elite covered her face as Spider took the opportunity to land a kick to the elite's gut making her fly back.

"You're slipping major, must be age," said spider with a smug tone.

The elite gritted her fangs and held her gut from the blow. She sat up and glared at the regular that was soon looming over her. She growled at Spider and spat ink out. The elite soon had a devious grin on her face looking at the octoling. "Seems I'm not the only one slipping," sneered the elite as she had her hand on the knife behind her.

Izzy noticed the elite grabbing the knife behind her and shouted at Spider. "Spider! Look out!" showed Izzy pointing at the elite. Spider turned toward Izzy with the elite pulling the knife out and lunged at the octoling. Spider turned back to the elite and at the last second she backed up but the knife tip left a cut on the side of her cheek. The elite was aggravated that Izzy warned her before she could stab the octoling.

"Little inkstain!" shouted the elite as Spider managed to grab the elite's arm the knife was in and threw her over her body. The elite flipped in the air and landed on her feet bending her knees so she couldn't land on her back. The elite turned toward Izzy and Spider with a glare. "This isn't over!" shouted the elite as she soon received a call.

Izzy rushed over to check on Spider who was covering the cut on her cheek. "You're hurt," said Izzy. "I'll be fine, it's just a knick," said the octoling as she turned away.

The elite had just got off the phone with Camper with a sinister grin. "Well, unfortunately, I gotta run, too bad I can't stay in play, we got our prize," said the elite as she waved at Izzy and spider. she octo formed and slithered away out of sight.

"Hey, get back here coward!" shouted Spider as she started to run after the elite holding her cheek. "Wait! Spider! What was she talking about when she said prize?" asked Izzy as she held onto her shoulder.

"I don't know? unless she meant..." said the octoling as she realized with a worried look on her face.

"What? What is it?!" asked Izzy with concern.

"We gotta go now! Keep up squid!" exclaimed the octoling picking up her goggles as the both of them made it out of the room and switched to their other forms and slithered down to the lower levels as fast as they could.

At the end of the hallway they changed back and spotted Cassie and the squid sisters in the middle of the large lobby. The group noticed them and drew their weapons but laid them down when they saw Izzy. Cassie dropped her weapon and rushed over to hug Izzy as she was excited to see her friend again.

"Izzy, I'm so sorry I got you dragged into this mess, I hope we can stay friends!" exclaimed Cassie as she started to cry.

"Cass, It's ok, It's not your fault and yes...we're still friends," said Izzy holding onto Cassie's shoulders giving her a toothy smile.

Cassie sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes, "you don't blame me?" asked Cassie in a pout.

"No! I don't! you're my best friend Cass," said Izzy with tears starting to form in her eyes.

The two hugged again as the octoling just crossed her arms and shook her head. "(sigh) squids..." said Spider with no emotion.

Cassie looked over to spider and stared at her. "Just who are?" asked Cassie snidely.

"Yeah, just what is an octoling doing here anyway?" asked Marie defensively as she picked up her charger.

"Wait! She saved my life! Don't hurt her!" shouted Izzy as she got in between them and the octoling.

"Huh? She...did, but why?" asked a bewildered Marie.

"Look...I just didn't want anyone getting hurt or killed. I'm on a mission for the octarian government to retrieve the human so it would stay out of the hands of the octo rebels," said Spider with her arms crossed with an indifferent look behind her goggles.

"Wait, Camper mentioned something about the octo rebels, but you're an octoling. Why would you go against you're own kind?" asked Marie still confused.

"The octo rebels aren't adhering to the peace treaty and have been stealing ancient human-based technology with the help of Camper and his crew to start making octoweapons again even though they have been forbidden to due to the treaty recommendations. Their intentions on taking the human is still unknown but we know it can't be good," said the octoling.

"Oh no, poor Blake!" said Callie with tears returning.

"What would they want with Blake?" asked Marie comforting Callie.

"We don't know? Wait, it has a name?" asked the octoling.

"Yes he does, He's also our friend and why should we trust you anyway octoling," said a distrusting Cassie.

"Why else would I save your friend there, my intentions are to follow orders from the Octarian government and ensure the races can stay at peace even though the rebels don't," explained the octoling displeased with Cassie's demeanor.

"Ok, Octoling, so where would they take him?" asked Cassie still not trusting the octoling.

"I don't know, hopefully, our source will inform us on something, if he gets taken into Octo Canyon, he'll be much harder to find," said the octoling.

"Octo Canyon?" asked Cassie.

'It's unknown territory on the other side of Octo Valley. It's where we believe the octo rebels are operating at. It was abandoned years ago as the power was going out in the domes," said the octoling.

"Wait...I think I know where that's at, It's near Mt. Nantai I think," said Marie.

"We have no time to lose, let's go before the human get's out of our reach," said the octoling.

* * *

Marina had stayed hidden until the group decided to head out. She came out of the room to get Marie's attention. "Marie!" she yelled.

"Marina? you guys ok? how's Cleo?" asked Marie.

"Not good, we gotta get her to a hospital fast!" exclaimed Marina.

"Alright, I'll call the police and an ambulance. Izzy, you and Cass grab Cleo and get her outside until the authorities arrive, ok," commanded Marie as the two girls nodded and grabbed Cleo as Pearl came out carrying Cleo on her shoulder. "about damn time!" sneered Pearl relieved to not carry Cleo anymore.

Marina watched Cassie and Izzy carry Cleo when they were stopped by Spider. "Wait!" shouted Spider. She stepped toward Izzy and Cassie.

"let me see her," asked the octoling. She picked up her head and looked over the badly hurt inkling. "It's her, the mole," said Spider.

"the mole, what are talking about?" asked Cassie.

"She's been working with us, spying on Camper and informing us about his activities, she's been a big help," said Spider laying Cleo down.

"Why would she help you?" asked Cassie in confusion.

"the same reason I am, to ensure peace and stability among the races. She's been secretly dating an octoling guy for some time even though the races would be against it," said Spider.

"Wait, an inkling and octoling? dating?" said a bewildered Cassie. "Is that even possible?" asked Cassie.

"don't see why not, I could care less, I'm going to give her a shot to get her by until she gets some professional help," said Spider.

Spider shot something in Cleo's arm as she flinched and moaned. "There, that'll do for now," said Spider.

Izzy and Cassie picked Cleo back up and started to carry her out of the area. Cassie turned her head to the octoling and thanked her for the help. The octoling just remained silent and didn't say anything as she turned back to the group.

Marina caught Spider's eye as if she had known her before. Marina looked nervously at the octoling as she tried to cover her face. The octoling approached Marina and took off her goggles. "You look... familiar, have I seen you somewhere?" asked Spider.

"Umm...I... don't think so," said Marina nervously.

"I swear you look like someone I knew," said Spider placing her hand under her chin.

"Listen here octopus! She says she's never seen you, so back off!" yelled Pearl as she got in front of Marina baring her fangs.

Spider just gave Pearl a look and shrugged. She turned away and mumbled to her self. "Nah, it couldn't be anyway,"

Marie looked over to Pearl and Marina. "Hey you guys, thank you for everything you've done, I really appreciate it," thanked Marie as she walked over and shook Marina's hand as she blushed and rubbed the back her head. Pearl just crossed her arms and looked at Marie. "I wanna explanation Cuz when this is all done," said a displeased Pearl.

"Fine, pearl but I'm still grateful you helped us out," said Marie with a smile.

Pearl just raised her eyebrow and sighed. "sure thing cuz," is all she said.

Marie looked back at Marina. "I think you guys have a concert to perform tonight don't you," said Marie reminding them of the square opening.

"Oh my gosh! You're right! Pearly! We gotta go and get ready!" shouted Marina with her hands on her cheeks in shock. She grabbed Pearl by the hand and drug her away out the door rushing back to the square for their concert tonight. "Woah! Rina! Not so fast!" they could hear Pearl shout down the hallway as the two left.

Marie just shook her head and looked back at Callie and Spider. "So what do we do next?" she asked Callie.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm heading back to my superiors to report the situation, hopefully, we'll have some leads and... no offense but I don't work with squids," said Spider as she walked away. She approached the hallway and before she left she turned to the squid sisters and pulled her goggles off.

"You guys...aren't bad, for squids," she said giving a quick half-smile and placing the goggles back on her eyes. She octo formed and slithered away down the hallway out of sight. Marie and Callie just looked at each other.

"So what do we do Marie? What about Blake!?" said a concerned Callie.

"Let's just head back to gramps, I'll get a hold of Cass and inform gramps about the situation, I know he'll be pained by this, but we have to devise a plan," said Marie.

Callie just downed her head grieving over losing Blake. She felt a hand on her shoulder looking up to see Marie giving her an assuring smile. "Cal (sigh) it's not your fault, we... were unprepared, we didn't know what we were running into," said Marie.

Callie looked at her cousin then turned away. "I want him back too," said Marie. "He's your boyfriend after all," said Marie with a smirk trying ease the guilt off her cousin.

"He's not..." said Callie as she turned back to her cousin. Callie then turns her head again hiding her emotions for Blake.

"You love him don't you Cal," asked Marie knowing that her cousin had been infatuated with him since they first met at Cuttlefish's.

"I...do, he's...charming and selfless and brave, I think he's the one Marie," said Callie turning back to her cousin.

"Yeah, it's hard to not fall for a guy like that. but you do know he sees us as a family because of gramps," said Marie looking at her cousin.

"I know but I wanna be more than friends and family, Marie," said Callie biting her lip.

"Look, Cal, if you wanna be more than friends then you should let him know how you feel," said Marie.

"But I...what if he doesn't wanna..." said Callie hesitantly as Marie cut her off.

"Callie, if that's how it is then that's how it is, you gotta remember what all he's been through, he may not be ready," explained Marie.

Callie froze in thought about what her cousin had said. "I'm... gonna try anyway, I...wanna let him know how I feel," said Callie snapping out of thought.

"Alright Cal but let's get to gramps and find him first, that way you can let him know," said Marie.

"Ok, Cuz, let's find Blake!" shouted Callie as she jumped up with her fist in the air going back to her normal self.

The two of them squid formed and left out of Camper's hideout and headed back to the plaza to inform Cuttlefish about Blake being kidnapped once they got to his shack. The two were not eager to get back unsure how to break the news to their grandfather, that his friend and once battle buddy was taken by the Camper and the octo rebels. Cass and Izzy managed to get Cleo help from the police and paramedics that arrived as they informed the authorities on what happened, skipping the mention of Spider, The squid sisters and Off the hook being there. Spider returned to octo valley to report to her superiors of the situation and Marina and Pearl were getting ready for the concert tonight.

In the meantime, Blake was being carried in a cargo truck heading out of the city, he was still uncosciense laying on the floor of the truck tied up with some rope. Camper was sitting down looking at the human. "To think an extinct species is lying on the floor in front of us, just to think how much he's worth. I wonder why those octo rebels want him so badly or for that matter all those octarians. What does it matter as long as I'm paid for it," said Camper.

"Wow so this is a human, I wondered what they looked like, I saw the fossil in the shellendorf institute," said a female gang member.

"It's nothing special, I hope he gets dissected, worthless fossil," jeered Camper.

"I think he's kinda cute, for a fossil," said the female inkling.

"Loppy, you think everything's cute, I don't know how you joined my crew," said an irritated Camper.

"You thought I was cute," said Loppy looking at Camper with her arms down.

"Yeah, I did, maybe when we get done with this job, we could settle down somewhere nice, maybe at moray towers or somewhere," said Camper.

"I wouldn't mind living near the beach, I like the sound and smell of the ocean," said Loppy as she sat next to Camper.

"For you, anything babe," said Camper as the two shared a kiss.

The truck continued on as it made its way to the outskirts of the city. Camper and his gang planned on meeting up with the elite and the octo rebels outside the city somewhere to finish the job they were supposed to pull off. let's hope Blake can get out of this one.


	29. Arc 2 Chapter 14

**Arc 2 Chapter 14**

Everything was black as inaudible voices could be heard among one another. The figure couldn't move as they appeared to bound down by something. The figure attempted to struggle but to no avail could not get free. They slowly opened their eyes as their senses came back. The figure looked around and noticed that their feet and arms were secured down on some kind of machine. "What's going on? Where am I?!" shouted the figure.

"Ah, Dr. Carter you're awake finally," jeered a man in a black suit as he approached the bound figure.

"Director Irons? Let me out this instant you bastard!" ordered Dr. Carter.

"Nuh-uh uh, I need you for a little side experiment that we've been working on, show him!" commanded Irons to his men manning the controls.

"Irons! What's going on?! Where's my family?!" yelled an angered Dr. Carter.

"You'll soon see," sneered Director Irons.

The wall behind irons opened up and behind it were some giant canisters containing a woman and a girl. They were Dr. Carter's Wife and daughter. He looked in utter horror and regret seeing them sealed up like that. They were both banging on the glass trying to get out but it was futile. The girl spotted her dad and yelled getting his attention.

"Dad! What's happening?! Get us out!" yelled the horrified daughter.

"James! Help us!" yelled his panicking wife.

"Irons! Let them out now! please I'll do anything you want, just let them go!" pleaded Dr. Carter in distress.

"I don't think so, they're going to be part of a little project of ours but don't worry you'll be joining them soon," sneered Director Irons as he walked over to the control panel where his men were.

"Ready the modified serum into the canisters for our subjects and get Dr. Carter prepared for his canister as well," ordered the director.

After a few moments, a guard rushed over to Director Irons. "What is it?" asked the director snidely.

"Sir we caught ourselves a little fly on the wall, a young man watching us from behind one of the control panels," said the guard.

"What! bring him out," barked the director.

Another guard approached with him having a hold of the young man's arm. When they got close enough the daughter in the canister went wide-eyed with a look of shock on her face. "Brandon?!" she shouted.

"Who are you?" asked the director with a displeasing look.

"I'm telling you the truth, I just got lost is all," said Brandon with guard having hold of his arm.

"Let him go, Irons, he has nothing to do with this!" shouted Dr. Carter.

"Oh, I'll let him go alright, in a canister along with your family," sneered the director.

"Mr. Carter, what's going on? where are they taking me!?" exclaimed a panicking Brandon as the guards dragged him toward an empty canister near Dr. Carter's wife and daughter.

"Alright, Dr. Carter you're next," said the director looking back at James.

"You won't get away with this Irons!" yelled James.

As Brandon's canister was placed beside Jame's daughter, Amy. She stared at Brandon her boyfriend that she thought would never see again. "Brandon! What are you doing here?!" she asked in shock.

"I couldn't let my girl go into outer space without me, To think that we may never see one another again, I had to sneak aboard the ship," explained Brandon.

"Brandon, that's so sweet of you, but you've put yourself in danger because of it," said Amy.

"For you, I wouldn't care if I put my life on the line or not, I love you Amy," said Brandon with compassion as Amy looked back with a loving expression. The two put their hands on the glass as to hold hands in their dire situation.

Dr. Carter's machine that he was laying on had unlocked his binds and threw him into another empty canister. "Dad!" shouted Amy breaking away from the moment between her and Brandon. His Canister moved over beside his wife as she looked over to him in horror. James rubbed his head and sat up facing his wife.

"Whatever happens hon, I love you," said James placing his hand on the glass toward her.

Me too, James," said his wife placing her hand on the glass toward him.

The two of them kissed the glass near each other as a gesture that they would love one another until the end.

"Well isn't this touching, at least you four will be a part of my experiment together, now commence the serum release," ordered the director.

"IRONS!" yelled James pounding on the glass. The director just looked over and gave him a smug look.

The AI Tartar appeared on the screen. "Starting Sanitation sequence," it said.

The canisters were filling up with some kind of blue-green liquid. The four of them were panicking unsure of what was happening. They banged and elbowed the glass in an attempt to bust out of the canisters. The canisters were halfway full as Brandon looked over to Amy with a worried look, "Amy...I love you," he said.

"I...love you, too," said Amy with tears forming. James and his wife were looking at each other knowing that we're not getting out of this one. "James no matter what we'll always be together," said his wife placing her hand back on the glass towards him.

"Always, no matter what happens," said James placing his hand on the glass.

The canisters were completely full as the four of them struggled to catch air. James turned and looked back over to the director with a sinister smile. James was losing strength while the rest of his family went unconsciense. He soon blacked out himself seeing nothing but the blurred figures of his family and Brandon until he lost consciousness. The image fades to black and nothing else is heard.

* * *

Camper and his gang had arrived at there destination to hear back from the octoling. They were at a dockyard outside the city getting ready to load up on a boat heading for the Saltspray Rig where they were to exchange Blake for the other half of the payment. The inklings woke Blake up from the dream he had as they grabbed him and threw him off the truck. Camper walked over to Blake and kicked him. "Get up fossil!" sneered Camper.

Blake moaned from the kick and looked up at Camper with a hateful glare. "I wonder how a human like you, survived all this time. What I've learned your race is supposed to extinct, I bet it sucks knowing your the last of your kind, guess that's why you're so valuable, maybe you've been better off drowning like the rest of your kind," sneered Camper.

Blake had gotten enraged by what Camper had said and tried to lunge at him but was held back by two other inklings. "Hmpf, still got some fight in you, too bad that octoling wants you alive or I'd feed you to the sharks," touted Camper holding his N-Zap at Blake's head.

"your nothing but a coward! You wouldn't even face me back at your hideout, your a disgrace to your kind!" shouted Blake. Camper got agitated by the comment and struck him with his N-Zap.

"I'd shut up if I were you, or you might "accidentally" fall off the boat we're about to get on," said Camper baring his fangs.

"I not afraid of you," said Blake glaring at the inkling as he spat up blood.

Camper just scoffed at Blake and walked away commanding his crew to get ready to load Blake on the boat. He then pulled his phone out and called the octoling elite that he was about to leave for the Saltspray Rig. After a few minutes he hung up the phone and he headed for the boat with his crew and Blake.

Meanwhile, the elite known as Scarface hung her phone up getting done talking with Camper. "Alright, That inkling his heading for the Saltspray Rig with the package, let's get there before any of those inkstains and traitors decide to show up," ordered the elite to her unit of octotroopers and octolings.

They saluted and hopped in their submarine getting ready to head out to the Saltspray Rig to meet up with Camper and his crew.

Once inside they dove down to avoid detection, inside the elite was sitting in the captain's chair, monitoring her crew and watching in front of the large sub. In the cargo hold was the octotroopers and a few octosnipers ready to be deployed if trouble should ever appear.

"ETA in 30 minutes Major," said an octoling regular manning the controls.

"Good, soon that human will be ours, that stupid squid doesn't realize once we have possession of the human, we'll splat them in the back. I can't believe that idiot believes we would just let him and those other inkstains just leave the rig knowing too much about our operations, I can't trust him to keep his big mouth shut, he's nothing but a shady squid anyway and I can't stand inklings anyway. That land should be ours and it soon will be once we deal with those traitors and they're false ruler, Stay on course!" sneered the elite.

"Yes ma'am," said the octoling.

"It'll just be a matter of time...and don't think our little matters are finished...Sargeant, you and those turncoats will get what's coming to you," sneered the octoling with an evil grin pressing her hands together.

The submarine continued on slowly making it's way to the Saltspray Rig.

* * *

It was getting late as the sun was going down. It had been a long day as the events that had transpired took a toll on everyone. The squid sisters had made it back to Cuttlefish's with some dreadful news about Blake. Cuttlefish dropped his cane once he heard Blake had been kidnapped by Camper and his gang of inklings.

"Gals, I trusted you to keep Blake safe! Now you say this band of misfits has taken him somewhere and you don't know!" shouted a distressed Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish shook his head and turned away in disapproval. "Gramps, we're sorry, we..." Marie tried to explain.

"It's my fault gramps, I lost Blake!" shouted Callie in distress.

"Cal, like I said it's not your fault, we were all supposed to make sure he was safe, but we didn't expect to get into a fight with Camper and his gang either," said Marie.

Cuttlefish turned back to the girls and gave a sigh. He soon picked his cane back up and consoled over the loss of losing his friend again."I don't blame you girls...you...did you're best to keep him out of harm's way, why would this Camper and his gang want with the lad anyway?" asked Cuttlefish still saddened by Blake's kidnapping.

"Cuttlefish, you're not gonna like this, but (sigh) we were informed by this octoling soldier that this group of rebels that are defying the treaty made a deal with Camper to capture Blake for them, I'm sorry to tell you this gramps," said Marie in a distressed tone.

Cuttlefish was horrified to hear this and he slowly walked to his bedroom.

"Gramps?" said Marie placing her arm out to Cuttlefish.

"Find him...soon, gals, please," pleaded Cuttlefish with his back turned.

"We...will, gramps...we promise, are you...gonna be ok?" asked Marie.

"I just wanna be alone for a bit, just focus on finding the lad," said Cuttlefish as he made his way in the bedroom and closed the door.

'Poor gramps," said Callie.

"(sigh) I... don't know what to do, I don't where they could've taken him," said Marie with defeat.

After a moment the two girls heard pounding on the door. They both look and Marie walked over to open it. It was Cassie in her casual clothes looking at Marie with concern. "Hey, you guys," said Cassie.

"Hey, Cass, well come on in," directed Marie as Cass walked inside.

"How's Cleo?" asked Marie.

"She's slowly recovering, thankfully she got help before it was too late, I hope she pulls through soon and maybe she can give us some information on Camper and his plans," said Cassie.

"Maybe, but I'm glad to hear she's doing better," said Marie with a half-smile.

"I took Izzy home after the authorities left, I hope she's not too traumatized by what's happened, It's... hard to live with myself knowing I put her through all that, I..." said a regretful Cassie being cut off by Marie placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Cass, It's not your fault, you didn't mean to put Izzy in danger like that, don't dwell on it, what's done is done and Izzy is ok because of your actions," said Marie reassuring her.

"I know but... I wanna make it up to her somehow," said Cassie still feeling remorse.

"How about you take her to go see Off the Hook, they're performing for the Square opening tonight, I'd bet she love that and It'll get both your mind off of things," said Marie trying to ease the tension off Cassie.

"You... think she would like that?" asked Cassie looking up at Marie.

"I'm sure she would, you two go have fun," said Marie.

"(sniff) all...alright, I'll ask her, she did say she liked Off the Hook, but... what about finding Blake?" asked Cassie.

"We... don't know where to start, the only person that would know would be Cleo but she's in intensive care, other than that maybe that octoling will let us know something, but I doubt it," said Marie in defeat.

"Well, I hope we find him soon," said Cassie.

"Me too," replied Marie.

The two remain silent for a moment until Cassie looked back to Marie. "How did Cuttlefish take the news?" asked Cassie hesitantly.

"(sigh) he... didn't take it well, him and Blake are...practically brothers, they fought in the great turf war together," said Marie depressingly.

"Maybe, something will turn up, I'll go and leave you guys alone, maybe you two should come to the concert too," suggested Marie.

Marie looked back at Callie who had remained silent sitting on the couch with her head in her arms on the arm of the couch. "I... don't think me or Callie are in the mood, you and Izzy go, we'll be fine," said Marie with a fake smile.

"oh, ok, well I wish you two the best, especially Cuttlefish," said Cassie before she left out the door heading back to the city.

As Cassie left, Marie walked over to the couch to comfort Callie. She gave her a hug and Callie whimpered thinking about Blake. "Cal, things will be alright, We'll find Blake, don't dwell on it so much," suggested Marie.

"I...know Marie, I just..." uttered Callie.

Marie cut her off and grabbed her by the shoulders so she could face her. Callie had tears running down her face from crying over Blake. Marie wiped her tears and gave a warm smile. "Everything will be alright Cal, I'll do whatever it takes to find him, he's... family, our friend and we never leave a friend behind," said Marie.

"(sniff) Thank you Marie, I'm glad to have you as a cousin, you're family too, I don't know what I would do without you or gramps," said Callie holding her tears in trying to smile.

"I'm glad to have you as my cousin too, Cal," said Marie with a tear running down her eye as she wiped it. The two of them embraced for a while and let go.

"Let's head back to the studio, it's getting late and their's nothing we can do right now," said Marie.

"I hope Blake will be ok," said Callie downing her head.

"Blake's tough by what I've seen and what gramps has said, I'm sure he's fine," said Marie.

The two got off the couch and headed to the door until Marie turned toward Cuttlefish's bedroom door. She slowly walked over and opened it seeing Cuttlefish sleeping on his bed. Marie had a look of regret on her face as she looked at her grandfather facing away on the bed. "Don't worry gramps, we'll find Blake, me and Callie love you," said Marie as she closed the door.

"How's gramps?" asked Callie as Marie walked over. "He'll be fine, eventually," said Marie rubbing her arm.

"Well I guess we better go," said Marie as the two left and squid formed down the storm drain back to the plaza. When they got to the plaza they headed to the studio exhausted from the day they had. Both Marie and Callie had thoughts dwelling through their minds how they were gonna find Blake and stop Camper and the octo Rebels.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in Octo valley at the octoling base an elite was surveying other octolings manning computers who just got done with a transmission with the new octarian ruler. She shook her head and gave a deep sigh before she turned around toward the main doorway into the chamber.

"Let's hope the rebels haven't succeeded in their mission, hopefully, Sergeant Maxie reports back soon with some good news since we haven't heard from that inkling," said the elite.

After a moment she turned back around looking at the giant screen and gave another sigh, just then the main doors opened and an octopus came slithering in the room and changed back to her bipedal form. The elite turned her head to look at the octoling regular.

"Ah, Sergeant Maxie, I'm glad you've returned, I hope you have something good to report," asked the elite.

"Lieutenant Octillia, unfortunately...the human was captured by the inkling crime syndicate leader and even worse news I intercepted with the rebel leader, the major, she apparently knew of the mole and informed the inkling gang leader about it," informed Sgt Maxie.

"(sigh) this isn't what I wanted to hear Sargeant but that would explain why we lost contact with our source," said the elite Lieutenant.

"Don't worry our source had been rescued by the squidbeak squad, but they were unsuccessful in keeping the human away from the crime syndicate, as of now we don't know where they've taken him and our source is in ICU at the Inkopolis hospital," said Sgt Maxie.

"The squidbeak were involved, that complicates things, I was hoping none of the other inklings would get wind of this especially the squidbeak squad," said the displeased elite.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I wasn't expecting them to be there either but it appeared they've made friends with the human, his name's Blake, by what I've gathered," said the sergeant.

"made friends with the human? Hmm... interesting, but troubling. We need to find that human fast before the rebels get a hold of him," said the stressing elite.

"I'll see what I can find, ma'am," said the Sargeant.

"I hope so, for our sakes, you're dismissed," said the elite.

The sergeant gave a salute and turned to walk out until. "Sergeant...how was your little reunion with your old friend the major?" asked the elite.

The sergeant just clenched her shoulders and balled up her fists. "I'm assuming it wasn't pleasant by the cut on your cheek," said the elite.

The octoling slowly calmed down and rose her head back up and continued out the door. recanting when she and the major were friends before Octavio was captured.

The main doors closed and the elite turned back to the screen shaking her head. "Ma'am" she was asked by a young octoling recruit.

"What is it private," asked the elite brashly.

"What did you mean old friend when you mentioned about the rebel leader, if you don't mind me asking," asked the private.

"The rebel leader and the sergeant used to be best friends, back when we were fighting against the inklings, the sergeant was under the major's wing. She trained the Sergeant everything she knew. Their friendship to the point they saw each other as sisters until Octavio was captured and they disputed about the peace treaty. The major was heavily against it while the sergeant supported it. Their outlook of the peace between the races was different. The sergeant seen peace as a betterment for the octarians while the major seen it as a disgrace. Their friendship split apart as the major and other octarians that supported her left the valley and set up base at the canyon. The sergeant was hurt by this and has been callous since then," explain the elite.

"But why does the Sergeant have a distrust toward the inklings?" asked the young private.

"(sigh) even though she wanted peace she still holds animosity towards the inklings because she witnessed the loss of her friends during the battle with the squidbeak squad and also sees the inklings as contributing to the break up with her former friend the major. She feels the inklings maybe could've done more since it was them that banished us underground years ago," said the elite.

"you would think the sergeant would be against the peace treaty if that's the case," said the confused private.

"She would rather have peace with the inklings than being ruled over Octavio, She saw him worse than the inklings, he was a tyrant after all, but what difference did it make when you're hiding underground trying to survive. Stealing the zapfish just proved how vulnerable we were and how we underestimated the inklings," said the elite.

"You really think we'll stay at peace with the inklings?" asked the private.

"I hope so, If we manage to rescue that human from the rebels than maybe we can survive for years to come, we don't how much longer the zapfishs the inklings gave us will power the domes, we need the human to gain us access to the alternative power supply for the domes, but we can't get access, we can't decipher the computer systems at the lower levels, all I know is these domes were built by humans but we made the major repairs, let's hope the human can help us, after all, it's been through, maybe we can establish peace with us as well," said the elite.

"Wow to hear a human is alive is extraordinary, I've heard by our history reports that they were very intelligent, it's unfortunate they went extinct," said the private.

"Let's hope we don't share the same fate, private, now return to your station," said the elite.

"yes ma'am," saluted the young octoling who walked away.

The elite turned and looked back surveying the octolings manning the computer systems and gave another sigh and walked away.

* * *

The new square was packed with inklings and the new shops had open. The concert was jamming with Pearl and Marina getting done singing their song color pulse. Inklings were dancing to the groove and waving glow sticks to the song. Pearl had rushed to the middle of the stage and shouted for the inklings. "You guys ready for the opening of Deca Tower!" yelled Pearl. "YEEEAAAHHH!" shouted the inklings in excitement. "Alright yo! Then let's hear for the great zapfish!" shouted Pearl as the giant fish appeared out of the sky and wrapped around the new Deca tower powering it up. The doors on the bottom of the tower opened up to the new turf battle lobby.

"YEEEAAAHHH!" shouted the inklings again as they were eager to get into the new turf war lobby. "Hold on yo!" shouted Pearl. The lobby doesn't officially open until 10:00 tomorrow morning!" explained Pearl.

"Hey! Pearl!" shouted Marina.

"Yo, Rina!" replied Pearl.

"Won't there be new turf arenas as well?" asked Marina.

"That's right! There will be new turf arenas but we won't reveal them until the lobby opens tomorrow morning," said Pearl.

"AAAAAWWWWW!" said the disappointed inklings.

"Don't worry, Me and Pearl will inform on the news report for tomorrow and hope you all get some rest and train," said Marina rubbing the records on her DJ turntable.

"Peace out!" yelled Pearl as the concert was finally over.

The inkling crowd started to disperse and head back to their homes. Except two that stayed back for a bit to talk to Marina and Pearl.

Earlier that night, It was Cassie and Izzy who had decided to come. Cassie had gone back to her apartment in flounder heights to see if Izzy wanted to go to the square opening even after all she had been through. Izzy had jumped for joy and hugged Cassie screaming yes. The two got ready and left for the new square to see Off the Hook perform but Cassie's thoughts weren't clear as Izzy soon noticed.

"What's wrong Cass?" asked Izzy.

"Oh, nothing It's just..." Cassie started to say.

"Cass, I'm not mad about Camper and his gang, I'm over that and you didn't mean for that to happen," said Izzy putting her hand on Cassie's shoulder.

"I know but..." Cassie said.

"Look let's just enjoy the concert to get our mind off things, ok," said Izzy smiling.

Cassie started to smile back and gave Izzy a hug as they left the apartment and headed down to the new square.

After the concert was over they saw Pearl and Marina head back to their studio, they caught them before they walked in. "Hey you guys," said Izzy as she waved.

"Izzy? Cassie? I'm glad to see you two, did you enjoy the concert?" asked Marina delighted to see them.

"Yeah we did, It was awesome!" shouted an excited Izzy jumping up with her fist in the air.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it," said Marina with a warm smile.

"So this is going to be the new turf player hangout then," said Cassie looking around.

"Yep, but the lobby won't open until tomorrow, I assume it's gonna be packed with folks in the morning, you two might want to head home so you can get up here early," suggested Marina.

"Rina, let's go, I'm getting sleepy yo," said Pearl yawning.

"I'll be there in a minute, Pearly," said Marina as Pearl started to walk in the studio.

"(sigh) so...how's Cleo doing?" asked Marina.

"She's... slowly recovering, Marina," said Cassie.

"I think she'll be fine, She wouldn' t have made it we weren't there to get her help, I'm just sad to hear about what had happened, why would anyone do that to a person!" exclaimed Marina.

"Some people are like that Marina, I just didn't think he would stoop that low, mark my words, Camper will be stopped!" exclaimed Cassie.

Marina downed her head as she thought about everything that had transpired that day. She couldn't mention her acknowledgment about the human and her contact on the laptop. She turned her head for a moment and bit her lip thinking why the octarians wanted Blake. She turned back to the two with confused looks on there faces.

"Marina? Are you ok?" asked Izzy.

"huh...yeah, it's just been a long day, with rescuing Cleo and having to hurry back here for the Square opening, it's been very exhausting," said a stressed Marina who wasn't looking like herself.

"Well ok Marina, get some sleep," said Izzy.

"You too," replied Marina as the two girls walked away with Marina waving back at them with a grin. She soon headed back inside the studio. She went to the back bedroom and saw Pearl passed out snoring. "Good, she's asleep, it's been a long day for the both of us, I don't wanna wake her," said Marina as she peered in the bedroom and then closed the door.

She walked back to the main lobby and went over to her station to pull out her laptop. She got on and saw she had a new message on the screen. She opened it and it said:

_DJ_Hyperfresh this is Agent_Indigo_

_I'd hope you got a hold of this message soon. I'm hearing reports that the subject had been captured by the rebels, if this is true, this is not good. We have to ensure no harm comes to the subject and that it doesn't initiate the rebel's operation: Teal Dawn. We must locate the whereabouts of the subject before they can reach Octo Canyon. If they do, it will be further away from our grasp and their chances of completing the operation will be higher._

Marina finished reading the message and typed one back.

_I'm aware Agent_Indigo about the subject. And his name is Blake. He's become friends with some of the inklings I've met. We were compromised by this gang of inklings that had been working with the rebels. Things had gotten jeopardized and we were not expecting these inklings to be cooperating with the rebels. It appeared the Octarian's mole had been rooted out as she was tortured by these inklings. We managed to get her some medical attention before it was too late thanks to the squidbeak agents._

Marina sent the message and after a moment another message popped up, it read:

_It has a name and the squidbeak agents were involved. This complicates things, we were hoping they wouldn't get involved, we must tread lightly now. This is a most troubling dilemma. I don't want the inklings or Inkopolis to find out about this. This could raise tensions between us and the Inkling government. I assume you don't know where "Blake" had been taken too, do you," _

Marina read the message and typed another:

_I don't Agent_Indigo and the octarian's source is in ICU at the inkopolis Hospital. She probably would've known and I hope she recovers soon, I hated that her life was on the line for this mission. I'm glad she didn't die, she's a nice girl. I just hate it and Blake, He's been hiding away from the inklings for some time only to get captured by this inkling gang that's working with the rebels. To think how he feels right now and he's so sweet and selfless, watching out for his friends._

Marina sent the message and got a reply:

_DJ_Hyperfresh I don't want anything to happen to the human neither but you have to put your emotions aside and stay focused. I'll try to find out any information on his whereabouts hopefully it's not too late. I'll stay in contact with you but for now, we'll retain network silence. Stay updated and near a communication device at all times DJ_Hyperfresh, stay in touch._

_Agent_Indigo out_

Marina closed her laptop after reading the last message. She sighed and got stuck in her thoughts thinking about the mission and Blake's safety and hoping Cleo would recover soon. She laid her head down on the table and soon drifted to sleep. "Blake, I hope you're ok," she mumbled before she went out.


	30. Arc 2 chapter 15

**Arc 2 Chapter 15**

It was early in the morning for the next day, Callie and Marie had gone back to the studio last night to get some rest from fighting Camper and his gang. They managed to save Cleo but lost Blake in the process. Hoping to get some shut-eye and hatch a plan the next day to find Blake, one squid sister had a hard time sleeping and was awake on top of the studio looking down at the plaza.

Marie rolled over when she noticed that Callie was gone. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up noticing Callie wasn't there. "Callie?" said Marie wondering where Callie had gone. Marie got out of bed and looked around in the studio and didn't see her. She walked to the back and saw the hatch for the roof was open. "Cal?" responded Marie looking up the opened hatch.

She climbed up the ladder and looked around. A figure is seen hunched over the ledge of the roof, it was Callie with her back turned. "Cal, you...ok?" asked Marie as she climbed up and walked over by her cousin. "Oh... hey, Marie," said Callie depressingly as she gave a long sigh.

"can't sleep huh, I'm sure you have a lot on mind," said Marie.

"I... (sigh)just wish things could go back to the way they were, I miss the plaza being filled with turfers, I miss our job, I miss when being out in the field was simpler, I...miss Blake," said Callie burying her head in her arms.

"Cal, I understand how you feel, It's just...things are different now, things will get better, and we'll get Blake back," said Marie placing her hand on Callie's shoulder.

"Marie?" said Callie turning her head back to Marie. "Yeah, Cal?" asked Marie.

"You think...me and Blake could start a family, would our family be ok with it back at the county?" asked Callie with Marie with a bewildered look.

"Umm...Cal, I'm not sure, you're thinking way too far ahead to even think of starting a family, I mean you don't know if Blake feels the same way," explained Marie surprised at what her cousin had said.

"Maybe I am, (sigh) It's just I'm tired of being a squidbeak agent, I love gramps but I wanna do other things, Marie," said Callie.

"I understand Cal, maybe when we defeat Camper and rescue Blake, Then maybe we can see if we can get out of the squidbeak squad. I'm like you Cal, I wanna do other things too," said Marie looking back over toward the plaza.

"Marie?" asked Callie looking at her cousin.

"Yeah, Cal?" asked Marie looking back at Callie.

"Have...you ever thought about getting a guy and starting a family?" asked Callie with an anxious tone.

Marie gave her a pensive look and sighed. "I... don't know, I haven't thought about it Cal, we've been busy with other things, it's never crossed my mind," said Marie.

"Really?" said Callie.

"Cal, I just... don't think about stuff like that, if the right guy comes along then maybe I would consider it, for now, I'm just focused on our mission on getting Blake back," said Marie with a serious tone.

"Oh, ok Marie, I was just...curious is all," said Callie.

Marie turned her head away while Callie was sorry that she brought the topic up to her cousin. "Well, it's still pretty early, I'm heading back to bed Cal," said Marie as she headed for the roof hatch. "you coming, Cal?" asked Marie.

"yeah," replied Callie rubbing her arm as she followed her back down and they both headed back to bed. Callie had thoughts racing through her mind before she finally fell asleep beside her cousin.

* * *

It was very early in the morning as Blake was sitting on the deck of the Saltspray Rig. Around him were Camper, his girlfriend Loppy, and the rest of his crew guarding the platform. During the boat ride to the rig, Blake remained silent and just watched from the guard rail of the boat as Inkopolis got further and further as the boat went out. After a couple of moments, Blake heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Loppy looking at him curiously.

"So, what's your name?" asked Loppy.

"What's it matter," said Blake with a critical tone.

"I'm just asking? I've never seen a human before now," said Loppy with a relieving tone.

"(sigh) It's Blake... if you have to know," said Blake indifferently.

"Blake...that's a nice name, Camper said you were in this metal pod they found at Pirahna Pit, is...that true?" asked the curious inkling girl.

"yeah... it's true, why ask?" replied Blake.

"How did you survive, weren't humans extinct?" asked Loppy.

"It's a long story, I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it, your fearless leader is going to turn me into the octo rebels anyway," said Blake no longer caring about his situation.

The inkling girl remained quiet for a moment, feeling uncomfortable about their conversation until she spotted the old bite mark on Blake's neck that hadn't quite healed up yet. "Hey, what's with the love mark on your neck," asked Loppy pointed at Blake's neck.

"Love mark?" said a confused Blake rubbing his neck. "Oh, It's...nothing," said a saddened Blake.

"You...have a mate?" said the inkling with a look of shock and confusion.

Camper decided to walk over to the two after he watched their conversation from the other side of the boat. "Hey Babe, why are you talking to the fossil?" questioned Camper giving Blake a slight glare.

"I was just wondering about him, he's got a love mark on his neck," said the inkling girl pointing at his neck.

"Huh? What inkling gal would hook up with a fossil like you, how disgusting, she must've not had good taste," sneered Camper.

Blake shot a glare at Camper and bared his teeth. "SHUT UP! At least she loved me for who I am unlike someone who is as manipulative as you!" shouted an angered Blake.

"I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you fossil, I can still throw you overboard and tell that scarred octoling that you took a swim," sneered Camper.

"Go ahead! Then I guess I'd be joining the rest of my race then," said Blake not caring.

Loppy downed her head in sympathy feeling bad for Blake being the last of his kind. "Hmpf... I almost feel sorry for you, but you're too valuable, unfortunately," said Camper indifferently as he walked away.

Blake's anger soon turned to grief as he downed his head. A tear ran down his cheek and turned away looking at the sea. Loppy had a saddened look on her face and walked away following Camper.

Twenty minutes later, Back on the Rig, Blake was still tied up sitting on the platform waiting to be taken by the octo rebels. Camper paced back and forth waiting for the elite to arrive. "Where is she!" gritted Camper.

After a moment a figure approached the group out of the shadows from the far side of the platform. It was the Octo rebel leader, the elite with the scar on her eye. "I'm right here Inkling," said the elite.

Camper turned and saw her approach with two armed octoling guards on each side of her. Then some octotroopers were also following behind scanning the platform. An octosniper also appeared on a small tower on the corner of the platform overlooking the group.

"So, this is the human," said the elite snidely.

"Well, where's the rest of my payment?" asked Camper with slight irritation.

"Relax Inkling, I have your payment," said the elite.

After a moment Camper looked at Blake and then back at the elite. "You know, I've been thinking, He's been a lot of trouble to get and I lost many of guys getting him, how I see it. I want double for him or I keep him Octoling!" said Camper.

The elite was furious and gritted her teeth as she clenched her fist. "You'll get what we agreed to inkstain, the human should've been in our possession weeks ago, but you squids screwed it up, It's not my problem you lost some of your crew catching it!" shouted the angry elite ready to do away with the inkling.

"Not your problem?... IT IS A PROBLEM! WHY IS THIS...FOSSIL SO VALUABLE TO YOU ANYWAY!" yelled Camper infuriated at the elite's remarks.

"That's none of your concern squid! Now hand the human over and take the payment you don't deserve!" demanded the elite as one of the guards handed her a briefcase full of coins.

No deal... Butch! take the human away to the back of the rig!" ordered Camper.

"Ok, Boss," replied Butch as he picked Blake up and lugged him away.

"You sorry excuse of a squid! I want that human! Hand him over or I'll have you all splatted!" shouted the furious elite as she signaled her unit to prepare to attack. The octoling guards held their weapons up as well as the octotroopers. The octosniper aimed its's gun down on the inklings below.

Camper's crew then aimed their weapons back at the octarians ready for a showdown. Butch and Blake turn and stopped as they were watching the inklings and octarians point their weapons at each other. "I won't ask again...hand over the human...Now!" yelled the elite.

The air got incredibly tense as the inkling and octolings stared at each other waiting for one or the other to make the first move. After awhile Camper gave the infuriated elite a smirk and looked at Blake and then back at her. The elite's angered look lightened up as she was wondering what Camper was up to.

"This human means a lot to you, doesn't it," sneered Camper. The octoling raised an eyebrow as she looked at Camper. Camper then slowly approached Blake with his N-Zap in hand.

He then got beside Blake with Butch backing up. In a split second, he pointed the N-Zap at the side of Blake's head. "It would be a shame if something happened to him, wouldn't it," said Camper snidely.

"You wouldn't," said the shocked but angered elite gritting her teeth.

"You ain't got the balls," sneered Blake with the N-Zap against his head.

"Shut up human! You might have survived that inkstrike back at the hideout, but I don't think you'll survive taking an ink shot to the head," jeered Camper. The inkling gang member then turned back to the elite. "I'm betting he'll either get brain damage or get killed, try me octoling!, Don't think I won't do it!" jeered Camper to the elite.

The elite growled in defeat not wanting any harm to fall on the human. She clenched her fists until she signaled her unit to stand down. "Very well then, let's work out a deal," said the aggravated elite narrowing her eyes at Camper.

"Now, that's more like it," sneered Camper arrogantly.

* * *

Back in Octo Valley while many of the octarians were sleeping and domes were displaying a nighttime sky on the screens that covered it's walls, on octoling regular was at sparing at one of the training grounds fighting a sparring dummy. She was practicing her hand to hand combat on the dummy, trying to improve her fighting skills after the encounter with the scarred elite that attempted to stab her back at Camper's hideout.

She stopped as she was tuckered out after sparring for nearly half an hour. sweat running down her face as she panted heavily trying to catch her breath. She gained her composure and stared at the sparring dimming with a serious look, "Major... you may have gotten away from me last time, but next time I'll be ready for you, don't think I'll go easy on you... old friend," said the octoling.

She turned away and headed toward the showers to wash off the sweat. She made her way down the locker room where the showers were located and sat on a bench thinking for a moment. She placed her goggles down beside her and took off her metal chest piece. After that, she kicked her boots off and stood up to slide down her black tight shorts and belt. She pulled over her black tank top and was completely nude heading over to one of the showers.

Turning on the shower she wiped her self all over and then placed her face in front of the water. She then hunched over backing herself against the wall of the shower exhausted from earlier. She had thoughts running through her mind about her fight with the major the day prior. It was after midnight for the octoling as she didn't care that she should've been in bed but was only focused on training for her next confrontation with the major and retrieving the human back from the rebels.

After ten minutes in the shower, she got out and dried off. Though she was a little shorter than your average octoling only by a few inches, she was by no chance weak or puny. She had a feminine physique, closely she had a muscled tone to her from rigorous training she does to stay up with the other octolings that she fought alongside. After she wiped herself off she heard a noise coming from the doorway to the locker room.

She pulled out a knife from off her gear laying on the bench. She got in a fighting stance even though she was still uncovered. "Who's there? Show yourself!" shouted the octoling regular.

After a moment a footstep could be heard with the shadow of a figure appearing at the floor of the doorway. The figure hesitantly peeked around the corner and the octoling could make out the head of a male octoling soldier with a bright red face seeing her nude.

"Melvin? WHAT ARE YOU DOING SNEAKING AROUND THE FEMALE LOOKER ROOM!" screamed the octoling.

"Ma'am! it's not what it looks like, Honestly!" exclaimed the octoling male waving his hands out then covering his eyes so as to not look at the nude octoling in front of him.

"YOU SLIMY PERV! I thought you were better than this! I should cut off every tentacle on her head for spying on me!" shouted the infuriated octoling.

"Sergeant, please understand that's not what I was doing! I was ordered to find you! The base had picked up a radio signal from an unknown source somewhere off the coast of inkling territory, we believe to be the rebels submarine, but were unsure why there out there and what they plan on doing?" explained the nervous octoling male still shielding his eyes.

"A submarine? What could they be planning? unless... the major," said the nude octoling putting her knife down with a look of realization on her face.

"Melvin, inform the lieutenant I'm on my way, they may be heading over to the drop point to meet with those band of inklings that had apprehended the human... oh, and another thing Melvin...DON'T YOU EVER COME BACK IN THE FEMALE'S LOCKER ROOM AGAIN! OR I'LL CUT OFF EVERY LITTLE TENTACLE ON HER HEAD AND MAKE YOU DO LAPS AROUND THE COURSE IN YOUR OCTOPUS FORM! GOT IT!" yelled the furious octoling female.

"YES MA"AM!" shouted the octoling male as he gave a salute and rushed off as fast as should in his octo form.

The octoling shook her head and gave a sigh. she turned back around to get dressed and placed the knife back in its sheath. She sat down after she got dressed and pulled out a picture of her and major and their old unit from before when they were battle buddies. She looked at the picture sternly and gave a short sigh.

"I'm sorry that it's come to this old friend but I have a job to do. I'd wish that things could go back to the way they were and you could see reason that Octavio wasn't thinking what was best for the octarian people," said the octoling as she soon placed the picture back in her pocket.

She got up and walked off towards the command center to retrieve new orders for her next mission with the lieutenant. She had conflicting thoughts running through her head knowing she would have to face her former friend the major and do what was necessary to stop her and the rebels from achieving their goals.

* * *

It was morning in Inkopolis as it was still way too early for any inkling to be out of bed. Back at Flounder Heights, two inklings were still asleep laying on their sleeping bags in the living room of an apartment. One of the inklings, a female with lime green tentacles turns over in her sleep and shortly opens her eyes. She sits up and groggily looks around. She spots another inkling female with short yellow tentacles laying across from her still asleep. The green tentacled inkling stretches and yawns, she decides to get up to go get a soda out of the fridge.

"What a night," said the inkling placing the soda on the counter.

She looks back at the other inkling and finishes her soda off and walks over, looking down at her. She kneels down and rubs the other inkling. "Izzy?" she says quietly.

"Mmmm..." the inkling mumbles.

"Izzy, get up, let's head down to the square," said the green tentacled inkling.

"come back later," said the other inkling girl turning over placing her pillow over her head.

"Izzy, c'mon, if you wanna be the first inkling to go through the new turf war lobby, you gotta get up," exclaimed the inkling girl.

"Go away, Cass," said Izzy with the pillow over her.

"(sigh) alright then, I guess Marina and Pearl won't watch you compete in the turf war arena then," said Cassie baiting Izzy to get up.

"Fine, I'm getting up," said Izzy irritated as she tossed her pillow.

The two of them ate breakfast and got ready to leave for Inkopolis Square. As they were walking Izzy looked over at Cassie. "Hey, Cass, you think we'll have enough time for... you know, If you can teach me some pointers?" asked Izzy.

"Pointers? Umm...sure, Izzy," said Cassie.

"Great, I think the square has a tutorial area for new turfers, maybe if we get there early enough I can train a little bit," said Izzy excitedly.

"Wait a minute, what kind of turf weapon do you use?" asked Cassie.

"Turf weapon? I... uhhhh" said Izzy as she just froze in realization that she didn't have one.

"Izzy?" asked a confused Cassie.

"Cass, I just realized I never got a weapon! I was supposed to get one, back when the plaza was open and totally forgot! We've been caught up with everything else and forgot to go to Ammo Knights! What am I gonna do!" shouted Izzy in sheer panic.

"Izzy calm down! Let's hurry and get to Sheldon's new shop before the square starts getting packed," said Cassie as she grabbed Izzy's hand rushed down the street to the bus stop.

* * *

Back at the Saltspray Rig six hours earlier, The octo rebels and Camper's gang were at a standoff on who would keep Blake. Camper had told the octoling elite that he wanted his payment doubled for losing his guys back at the hideout while the elite was agitated at Camper's request. She couldn't help but oblige, being Camper had his N-Zap pointed at Blake's head. She would be willing to make a deal with the inkling if it meant taking the human back with her.

"Very well Camper, I'll increase your payment and even throw in some octoshots with it, just hand over the human," asked the elite.

"Can I trust you octoling? If you double-cross me, so help me I'll cover this platform with you and the rest of those octopuses ink!" barked Camper.

"You have my word," said the octoling.

Camper slowly drew his weapon off Blake's head and walked back to the center of the platform staring at the octoling elite but unknown to the octarians and Camper's crew, Loppy had snuck over behind where Blake and Butch were when nobody was paying attention and focused on Camper and the elite. She pulled out her ink brush and hit Butch in the back of the head with the handle and pulled Blake away. Blake was confused as he tried to yell the inkling girl covered his mouth. "Shush!" she said. "I'm getting you outta here, but only on one condition," said Loppy as she pulled Blake up and drug him out of sight.

Both groups didn't notice as their eyes were locked on each other. Camper and the octoling were staring at each worried one or the other would pull something. "Fine octopus you can have the fossil. Butch! grab the human, were..." said Camper as he noticed that Butch was lying on the floor and Blake was missing.

"WHAT! WHERE'S THE FOSSIL!" yelled a shocked wide-eyed Camper.

Butch rubbed the back of his head and sat up looking at a disgruntled Camper. "What!...Happened!...WHERE'S THE HUMAN!" roared Camper.

Butch was in utter fear at Camper's uproar. "B...B...Boss, I don't know?! I was here watching the human then one second someone knocked me out from behind! I swear!" exclaimed a panicking Butch.

"Useless squid! FIND HIM NOW! ALL OF YOU FIND THAT HUMAN!" yelled a displeased Camper as his gang squid formed and spread around the rig hunting for Blake.

Camper turned by to an infuriated elite giving him a death stare. "If this is some kind of trick, squid. Beacuse if it is then I'll throw you off this rig and watch you splat down in the water!" shouted the angered octoling elite.

"Can it octopus! I don't know where that human's run off to! But I'll find it and break both it's bony legs!" jeered Camper.

"I want that human intact, you better find him and in one piece," said the elite.

Just then one of Camper's guys rushed over to him and informed him that Loppy was missing as well. "What!?" said Camper with concern. "if that human harms a tentacle on her head, I'll beat every inch of its pathetic little life," said Camper as the inkling left.

"You and your crew better not be up to anything, or I'll be sure you and those inkstains don't make it off this rig," sneered the elite.

"You think I care, I'm only concerned about Loppy, don't worry I'll find that fossil, I can't guarantee you'll get it back in one piece or not!" sneered Camper back at the elite.

Camper walked away with the elite crossing her arms. "Ma'am what do we do?" asked one of the octoling guards.

"Find the human and ensure no harm comes to it, we need it alive, do whatever it takes," ordered the elite.

"yes, ma'am" saluted the octoling guard. The octarians soon spread out through the rig hunting for Blake, hopefully before the inklings do.

* * *

That following morning back at the plaza the squid sisters woke up. They got ready to head off to Cuttlefish's hoping that he recompiled himself overhearing about Blake going missing. They left the studio and headed for the storm grate. They hopped in and squid formed as they slithered down the tunnel toward their grandfather's.

Once they reached Cuttlefish's they knocked on the door but there was no answer. They opened the door looking around. "Gramps!" shouted Marie and Callie.

They looked through the shack even the bedroom and saw that he wasn't there. "Where is he?" asked Callie. "I'm not sure Cal," said Marie.

They walked outside and looked around until the spotted a figure looking over at Octo Valley. It was their grandfather, staring at the valley with a pained look.

He heard footsteps behind him as he downed his head and gave a sigh. "Hey, grandsquids," said Cuttlefish knowing who it was without turning his head.

"Hey...gramps, whatcha doin'?" asked Callie.

"Oh nothing, just looking at Octo Valley... I just hope the octarians don't have the lad," said Cuttlefish with some distress in his voice.

"I hope not either, gramps, I hope we find him soon," said Marie.

Cuttlefish picked his head up and looked at Octavio and the snowglobe over near the ledge. Cuttlefish's face soon turned serious as looked at the giant snowglobe, he walked over and stared at Octavio for a moment. Octavio was asleep but Cuttlefish gave the glass a hard tap with his cane to wake him up.

"Octavio!" shouted Cuttlefish with his grandsquids behind him, a little unsure what their grandfather was doing. Octavio jumped awake and stared at Cuttlefish with anger.

"What is it hipster!" shouted an angry Octavio glaring at Cuttlefish.

"Where's Blake!?" asked an upset Cuttlefish.

"Who? You talkin' about bonehead? you woke me up for that! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW!" roared Octavio distraught by Cuttlefish's questions.

"What do the octarians want with him! talk Octavio!" commanded Cuttlefish waving his cane.

"I've been imprisoned in this giant snowglobe, How would I know what they would want with him?!" jeered Octavio crossing his tentacles.

"Octavio! I know you have something to do with this! Now talk you oversized..." ordered Cuttlefish ready to hit the glass again until he was disrupted by Marie placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Gramps, stop, He wouldn't know," said Marie with a reasoning look.

"yeah, gramps he's been here this whole time, I''m not sure he knows anything about the octo rebels and their plans," said Callie.

"You're...right girls," said Cuttlefish downing his head as he turned toward his granddaughters in defeat.

Octavio pondered on what Callie had said, he was wondering why they wanted Blake too. He remained silent as he watched the three and decided to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Let's go, gramps, We'll think of something, let's go eat some Krabby cakes," said Marie trying to get Cuttlefish's mind off things.

The three of them left Octavio and headed back to the shack. Octavio looked as they left, he thought why the octarians would want Blake and how he could get out of that globe. Octavio closed his eyes and gave a sigh. He turned away from the shack and looked back at Octo Valley. "Wonder why they want that bonehead, what do they plan on doing with him?" said Octavio to himself. He then closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.


	31. Arc 2 Chapter 16

**Arc 2 Chapter 16**

On the Saltspray Rig, the inklings and octarians were frantically looking for Blake. He had been snuck away by Camper's girlfriend Loppy. She took him to a room somewhere under the deck in an attempt to get away from the groups. Once in the room, she had Blake go to the other side of the room while she was near the door. After a moment she went over and untied Blake. Blake was relived but suspicious of the inkling girl's actions.

"Alright, why did you get me away from up there?" asked Blake keeping his guard up.

The inkling girl just looked at him and laid her ink brush against the wall. She then turned back to Blake with a serious look while Blake raised an eyebrow.

"I thought about Camper's actions. It isn't right how he treated you or selling you to those octarians. I hate for them to hurt you, being the last of your kind," explained Loppy. "How can you speak my language? It must have been lonely being in that pod thing, I wonder how you survived all this time?" she continued.

Blake gave her a look of suspicion unsure why she risked herself saving him and not believing that was the only reason why she brought him there. "ok, Why the sympathy?" asked Blake with his arms crossed.

Loppy stared at him for a moment then turned her face as she rubbed the back of her head. "I just... like you," said Loppy rubbing her arm.

Blake had a look of surprise on his face hearing what the inkling girl had said. "Huh?" responded Blake.

"Are you... single? I saw the mark on your neck," said Loppy in eagerness.

"What? I um... sorry, but I don't think this is the time, plus you're not my type and PLUS! I pretty sure Camper would break every bone in my body if he knew I hooked up with his girlfriend," said Blake trying to comprehend the conversation.

"But Camper's an asshole, I know he wants me and him to find a place on our own after he receives the money, but I don't care about that after you stood up to him," she explained then her expression changed as she smirked at the human. "you know I've never hooked up with a human," said the inkling girl as she swayed closer to Blake.

Blake was flabbergasted as he blushed not knowing how to react to the inkling girl's offer. "Look, this is so sudden, Camper and those octarians are going to be looking for us!" exclaimed Blake.

"Well that doesn't give us much time, does it," said the inkling with a blushing face.

She swooped in and put her arm around Blake's and twirled her finger on his chest. "Umm...what are you doing," asked Blake nervously.

"Oh come on, let's at least make our situation enjoyable," said Loopy as pulled onto Blake.

"Uh, no, as I said, your not my type," said Blake pulling his arm free from the inkling girl.

Loppy yelped from the sudden move and looked at Blake. As he had his back turned she squid formed and tackled him down. He turned around on the floor and saw the inkling on top of him back in her bipedal form. She gave him a promiscuous stare with a toothy smile. Blake had froze in utter surprise unsure how to make out the dilemma.

"I think you're just playing hard to get," said Loppy.

"What!? No...I..." said Blake as he was cut off by the inkling starting to take her clothes off.

Blake when wide-eyed and jaw-dropped at the inkling. She had managed to slip out of her clothes and was completely nude on top of him.

"WAH!" shouted Blake as he jerked and covered his eyes.

"Okaaaay...your turn," said Loppy promiscuously as she blushed. She started to pull Blake's shirt but all of a sudden the two of them heard footsteps outside the door.

"Hey! I thought I heard something!" shouted a voice outside the door.

"Oh shit!" said Blake.

Loppy turned and got off Blake. She grabbed her clothes and covered her naked body unsure what to do. "Hide!" commanded Blake to the inkling gal. She nodded and jumped behind some crates on the corner of the room. Blake frantically looked around for a place to hide as he heard footsteps approach the door to the room. "I heard the noise come from in here," said the voice. Blake panicked as he turned and saw an open locker to the side. he jumped in it hoping to hide from the voices as the doorknob turned.

* * *

Cassie and Izzy finally made it to the square. They got off the bus and walked into the square. It was still a little early as the square was empty and the shops were closed.

Cassie and Izzy made their way to the new Ammo Knights store and knocked on the door. The sign said closed but Cassie was hoping the owner was awake and would open it. After a few minutes, a figure came and opened the shop door. he was a short humanoid creature with a shell on his head. He wore goggles and an apron covering his body. He looked at the two girls and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, you do no the lobby doesn't officially open until 10:00 don't you, I'm surprised you inklings are up this early," said the creature.

"Uh, we know Sheldon, it's just my friend here needs a starter kit for the turf war games. She came into town a couple of weeks ago. I was hoping you would open the shop for us so she can get ready before the square gets packed," said Cassie.

"(sigh) I guess, but just this once!" said Sheldon as he was irritated by how early it was.

"I'm only doing this for you Cass, but don't expect a discount or anything," said Sheldon as he walked back in.

The two of them walked in and followed Sheldon to the counter. He turned around and faced the girls collecting his composure. "So, this is your first time in Inkopolis huh, I assume you came here to do turf battles, well seek no further, welcome to Ammo Knights, the only place in Inkopolis to buy the latest and freshest turf war weapons," said the anxious Horseshoe crab.

Izzy looked around in amazement staring at all the turf weapons on the walls. "Wow, look at all the cool turf weapons," said Izzy with her eyes sparkling.

"Cass, says you need a turf weapon, well since this your first time, unfortunately, I have to sell you a starter kit," explained Sheldon.

"What's a starter kit?" asked Izzy.

"A starter kit is sold and issued out to fresh new turf players, here let me show you," said Sheldon as he opened up the starter kit.

Sheldon opened the starter kit and showed Izzy what it consisted of. Inside the case was a weapon called a Splattershot Jr. and also an ink tank for containing the turf player's ink.

"What's this?" asked Izzy as she picked what looked like a wristwatch but in the center of it was a circular screen with a squid logo on it.

"Oh that's squidwatch, it lets you know when you can activate your special," explained Sheldon.

"Special? What's a special?" asked Izzy examining the watch.

"A special unlocks a power-up when you've filled up the gauge on your squidwatch. In order to unlock your special weapon, you have to start covering as much turf as you can and splat as many players from the opposing team, once the squidwatch glows you can activate the special weapon," explained Sheldon.

"So what kind of special weapons are there?" asked Izzy.

"Well, right now the old special weapons are being phased out, like bomb rush, the inkstrike and the Kraken," said Sheldon.

"What? the Kraken's being phased out, That was my favorite," said Cassie in distress.

"Don't worry, They'll be some new special weapons replacing the old ones," said Sheldon trying to relieve Cassie.

"New ones? Like what?" asked Cassie perking up.

"Well, right now I can think of three, the Baller, the tenta missiles, and Ink armor, I'm still constructing the other ones," said Sheldon.

"Wow, I wouldn't mind trying out some of the new special weapons," said Cassie.

"Cass, I thought you weren't playing turf wars anymore, you know after that tournament you and your team lost," said Sheldon.

"I talked her into playing again Sheldon!" exclaimed Izzy with a smile.

"You did, that's great news! I'm glad to hear you're getting back into turfing Cassie, I hated it when I heard you got out of playing in the turf battles two years ago, well, don't worry, there are new weapons and arenas coming I've just got done putting out the new Splattershots," said Sheldon excitedly.

"New Splattershot?" asked Cassie.

"Yeah, they were put out by Tentatek for the new arenas. He let me show you," said Sheldon grabbing anew Splattershot off the wall.

Cassie took the new Splattershot and examined it. "Seems a little heavier than the old ones. I always did like the splattershot," said Cassie.

"Well, it may be heavier, but they are an improvement over the old ones, more ergonomic and controllable compared to the old ones, We also have some newly designed Rollers and Chargers. You wanna see?" asked Sheldon.

"No thank you, Sheldon, let's just hurry and get Izzy set up before the lobby opens," said Cassie.

"Hey, this thing is cool! When can I get one?" asked Izzy looking at the new Splattershot.

"When you start competing more and winning battles. Your rank class climbs as you and the team your on wins turf wars and earn enough money of course, then you can purchase one," explained Sheldon taking the Splattershot away.

"Ahhhhh," said a gloomy Izzy.

"Hey, Cass? since your playing in turf wars again you wanna buy a new splattershot?" asked Sheldon as he put the weapon back on the wall.

"Not right now, I'm just focused on getting Izzy ready before the tower opens and we still gotta go to the tutorial area so she can get the hang of things," said Cassie.

"Ok, well I look forward to you coming back then," said Sheldon as he walked back over.

"Well let's get going Izzy, we still gotta go train and here Sheldon, for the starter kit," said Cassie paying Sheldon for the Starter pack.

"No problem girls, I wish you the best of luck," waved Sheldon as Izzy and Cassie walked out of the store and headed over to the tutorial area to train Izzy.

On their way there, the girls passed the new studio. The studio was still closed and Izzy looked at Cassie. "Hey, Cass?" asked Izzy.

"Yeah, Izzy?" replied Cassie.

"Thanks for doing this for me, You've been the only true friend since I came to Inkopolis. (sigh) I wasn't sure what to do when I came here, I mean I have friends that live in Flounder Heights but they're always busy, I never get to spend time with them, I was hoping they could help me out but..." said Izzy as she started to put her head down.

"Izzy... It's no problem, I don't mind helping you out, you've been a great friend to me too, you're probably my only friend. After Me and my team lost at the tournament years ago, we kinda grew apart. I quit staying in contact with them and Ross, I mean Camper, didn't help matters. You've helped me out even though you don't know it," said Cassie with her hand on Izzy's shoulder.

"I have? I mean...you're...welcome Cass," said Izzy giving a slight smile.

"Best friend," said Cassie putting her hand out for a shake.

"Best friend," said Izzy shaking Cassie's hand.

The two hugged for a while and continued on to the tutorial area before the square got filled with turf war players.

* * *

Back at the Octoling base, An Octoling Elite was standing in front of a large group of octoling soldiers. She had just got done giving a briefing on the location of the submarine and relayed the message they had just heard transmitted from the octo rebels in the large chamber which was the command center. "Alright, we'll deploy two squads to assault the rig where the inklings and octo rebels are making the exchange. By what we've intercepted the human is supposed to be exchanged there from the inklings to the rebels, let's ensure that we stop them before they make it to Octo Canyon, is everyone ready?!" ordered the elite.

"Yes, Ma'am!" shouted the octolings.

"Good! Both squads will make there way to the rig via the octozepplins. The octozepplins are a new octoweapon the engineers had just built for transportation and air assaults. Some of the octozepplins have been installed with platforms and turrets as countermeasures. They're large and will be easily spotted so we'll have to be prepared for a counterattack or the rebels could fall back with the human in possession but its the only way to get aboard the rig for now," explained the elite.

"Lieutenant, what's our plan if the rebels were to flee with the human, before we reach the rig since the octozepplins will be easily spotted," asked an octoling.

"Well since it will still be dark, let's hope we'll still have ample time and range for you troops to octo jump on the rig and stop the groups from retaliating before the rebels make it off with the human, our options are limited, so we have to rely on coordination and luck on this mission, so keep on your toes and watch each other," said the elite.

"Roger," said the octoling.

"Alright is everyone ready?!" shouted the elite.

"Yes, ma'am!" shouted the octolings again.

"Good! Now move out!" commanded the elite.

They all saluted and headed down to the octozeppelin bay but as they left, one octoling held back. It was Sergeant Maxie, the octoling that had reported to the elite beforehand.

"Sergeant! I'm counting on you to lead the two squads, I trust there will be no casualties from our side and that the human will be apprehended form the rebels without incident, let's hope the inklings will leave before we approach, then we can deal with the rebels," said the elite.

"You can count on me Lieutenant, You'll be rest assured that we'll retrieve the human from the rebels and their leader will be stopped, I can promise that," said the Sargeant as she turned away.

"I hope so...and, Sergeant," said the elite as the Sergeant stopped and faced her commander.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" asked the Sergeant.

"remain clear-minded, don't let the Major get in your head, I know your history together and...I don't wanna lose you, she's done enough damage as it is," said the elite.

"You have my word," saluted the Sergeant as she turned and headed out to the octozeppelin bay with the other octolings.

After the octoling sergeant left the elite had a pensive look on her face. "Do be careful, Sergeant, I know she was your friend and mentor as well as my sister, but we must stop her for the sake of the octarians and peace among the races, make it back," said the elite as she turned away observing the chamber crewmen manning the computers.

* * *

It was still a little early in the morning as the squids came out of the Cuttlefish's shack after eating and calming their grandfather down after the incident with Octavio.

"Well, I'm glad gramps calmed down, I hated to see him get worked up, he said he was ready to push Octavio off the cliff as he did to Blake years ago," said Marie.

"He really cares for Blake," said Callie.

"Like you," said Marie with a smirk.

"yeah..." replied Callie looking at her cousin then turning her head with a saddened look.

"You're not gonna get all flustered about?" asked a surprised Callie from her reaction.

"No, I do very much, care about Blake," said Callie depressingly.

Marie turned her head, critically-minded of the situation, hoping that something would turn up about the whereabouts of Blake. She then turned back to Callie. "Cal...I," started Marie as she was cut off by Cuttlefish bursting the door open and shouting at the two of them.

"Grandsquids come here quick! Hurry!" shouted Cuttlefish startling the girls looking at Cuttlefish with shock and confusion.

The two of them looked at each other and ran back in. Inside they headed into the bedroom and saw Cuttlefish hovered over an old HAM radio that he used for field work to keep in contact with agents. "Gramps! What's going on?!" exclaimed a confused Marie with Callie behind her.

"It's a distress call, I heard it when I headed back to my bedroom," explained Cuttlefish.

"What? Gramps, you haven't used that thing in two years, their's no way..." said Marie as she was cut off by static coming from the radio.

"Shush!" signaled Cuttlefish as the static cleared and a transmission came in.

"Mayday! Mayday! This is the Saltspray Rig! Come In! (zzzttt) Please anyone hearing this send help! (zzzttt) This is a recorded message! (zzzttt) Hurry! Blake out!"

"That was Blake! He's in trouble! We have to do something!" shouted Callie frantically.

"Callie calm down! It was a recorded message, but how long ago was it sent out?" asked Marie.

"I'm not sure lass, I can only hope Bucko is safe," said Cuttlefish a slightly distressed tone.

"He said the Saltspray Rig, That's out in the bay!" said Callie.

"How do you two plan to get out there?" asked Cuttlefish.

"I'm not sure, we'll have to see if we can a boat," said Marie.

"A boat, where are we going to get a boat, Marie, not to mention we're vulnerable to water," asked Callie.

"I know Cal, it's risky, but..." said Marie as she soon froze in thought. "Wait,... gramps, do you still have your old fishing boat?" asked Marie.

"I sure do, I just fixed the leak on it not too long ago, it's not fast but..." said Cuttlefish as he was cut off.

"It'll have to do gramps, as long as it can get us there, now let's hurry and get to your wharf," said Marie as she grabbed Cuttlefish's hand and the rushed out the door with Callie behind them.

It had been a while but the three of them made to Cuttlefish's wharf where the boat was docked. The boat was small and built out of wood. It had a couple of metal patches from all the leaks. On the back was a small motor that powered the little boat, hopefully, it still ran. "It's not much, but it's our only option," said Marie as she gave a long sigh.

"Well, girls I wish you the best of luck and please save the lad," said Cuttlefish waving his cane as he headed back to his shack.

"We will gramps! don't worry we'll save Blake!" shouted Callie.

Callie looked back at her cousin who was calling on her phone. "I'm going to get a hold of Cassie and inform her about the radio message, hopefully, she'll answer her phone," said Marie a little starkly.

After a moment, she finally got an answer. "Hello? Marie?" asked Cassie on the other end.

"Cass, I need you at Cuttlefish's wharf right away, Blake's in trouble. Cuttlefish caught his distress signal on the HAM radio, me and Callie are going to get ready to head out. get here quick and I'll explain the details," explained Marie on the phone.

"Ok, Marie, I'm on my way!" said Cassie as she hung up.

"Hopefully she'll be here soon, let's gear up Cal," said Marie as Callie nodded.

The two of them put on their splat armor and agent outfits. They pulled out their weapons and ink tanks and placed them in the boat. "Alright, Cal all we gotta do is wait on Cassie, now," said Marie.

"I hope Blake's ok," said Callie looking out at the bay.

'Me too Cal, me too," said Marie also looking out at the bay.

* * *

Cassie and Izzy were in the tutorial area near Inkopolis Square. Cassie was teaching Izzy how to shoot at targets and refill her ink tank. Izzy was slowly getting the hang of it as she went through different courses in the tutorial area. When they made it to the range Izzy was learning how to shoot at the squid shaped targets. Cassie was going over different tactics she should use when going up against her opponents in turf wars. She warned Izzy about Chargers and Rollers and told her to focus on covering the turf with her and her team's ink to win in matches. After about nearly an hour Izzy was starting to get tired and thought she might be ready to get into a turf match.

"Well first Izzy, you need to join a team before you can compete," advised Cassie.

"A team? But I'm not sure who I could join, I mean my friends are already on teams," said a distressed Izzy.

"Hmm, I'm not sure then, maybe you could mingle with some turf players and ask around. I'm sure all those turfers coming to the square are going to need to gather and ask around as the lobby opens, then maybe you can find a team to be on," said Cassie.

"Wh...what about your team, Cass?" asked Izzy.

"My team? Izzy, I already told you, I don't really keep in contact with them and besides, they're experienced turfers and you just started, I'm not sure they would let you on," said Cassie.

"Oh, well I guess I could ask around when we get back to the square," said Izzy.

"Well, it's still early and you've got plenty of time to go back through the course if you want," said Cassie.

"Nah, I'm starting to get hungry, maybe Crusty Sean has his food truck open," said Izzy placing her hand on her stomach.

"ok, we'll grab I bite to eat and maybe we can swing over to see Off the Hook if they've opened their studio," said Cassie.

'Ok, let's go!" shouted Izzy as they left the tutorial area and ventured back to the square.

The two of them headed to crusty sean's food truck but unfortunately, it was closed and wouldn't open until the lobby opened for the turfers.

"Aww squid, I'm hungry," said a disappointed Izzy.

"Don't worry Izzy, let's just head over to the studio," said Cassie putting her hand on Izzy's back.

The two walked over to the studio and saw that the window wasn't blocked anymore and they could see Marina inside placing a laptop away at her station. Izzy tapped on the glass and waved getting Marina's attention. Marina looked and saw the two of them at the window and smiled and waved before she opened the door to greet them.

"Hey, you guys, whatchu up to?" said marina

"Oh, Cass is teaching me how to play in turf wars, we just came back from training but we got here real early so could get a weapon before the lobby opened," explained Izzy excited to see Marina.

"That's awesome, I wish you the best of luck and don't stress about playing, you'll get the hang of it," said Marina.

"Alright Marina, I won't but Cassie said I should join a team first, I hope I'll get a chance to play when the lobby finally opens," said Izzy.

"I'm sure you'll get on a team when all the turfers get here, they'll have to ask around for some players to join their teams," said Marina placing her hand on Izzy's shoulder.

"I mean will anyone let me join on their team? I mean I'm new and all and..." asked Izzy nervously.

"Izzy it's okay, I mean if you don't get on a team, you could always watch the battle on the screens and learn how they play turf wars or go back to the tutorial area and train before you get into a real battle," said Cassie trying to reassure Izzy.

"Cassie's right Izzy, it's not the end of the world if you don't get to play, you'll get an opportunity, just be confident and patient, their's no need to worry about it," said Marina giving Izzy a toothy smile.

"Alright, you guys and thank you for cheering me up, I'll do the best I can," said Izzy pumping her fist with confidence.

"That's the spirit," said Marina.

After their pep talk, Cassie's phone rang and she pulled it out to see who was calling her so early, assuming it was one of the squid sisters with something urgent. She saw that it was Marie calling and answered it. "Hello? Marie? she answered.

Cassie turned away to hear Marie giving her information about Blake and a distress call from Cuttlefish's radio. Marina and Izzy looked at her with worry unsure of what was going on. Marie informed her that they were at Cuttlefish's wharf and for her to meet with them there right away, "Ok, Marie! I'm on my way!" said Cassie as she hung up the phone.

Cassie turned and looked back at Izzy and Marina with concerned and confused looks on their faces. "Sorry guys, I gotta run! Izzy stay here and train some more before the lobby opens up and don't worry, just hang around and talk to people and maybe you'll get pulled to be on their team," said Cassie as she darted for the square exit.

"Cassie, wait!" shouted Izzy as she held her arm out.

Marina was worried and looked back at Izzy hoping nobody was in danger. "Marina, what's going on, why did she have to leave?" asked Izzy who was distressed and confused.

"Izzy, I'm sure it was something important, She'll be back when it gets taken care of, I'm sure," said Marina trying to reassure Izzy.

Izzy gave a sigh and downed her head. "But I wanted her to stay, I'm nervous, She's my only true friend Marina," said Izzy sadly.

"It'll be alright, Izzy, like I said she'll be back," said Marina.

Izzy looked back at the direction Cassie ran to with a depressed look. She wanted Cassie to stay and cheer her on and provide her emotional support since it was her first time competing in the turf war matches. She then decided to chase after her and see what was going on even though she was risking losing the opportunity to play when the lobby finally opened.

"Izzy where are you going?" asked Marina in slight distress.

"Cassie and them are in trouble and I'm going to go help my friend!" shouted Izzy as she squid formed and headed out of the square.

"Well, do be careful!" shouted a worried Marina as Izzy vanished down the street.

* * *

The octarians were moving in on the Saltspray Rig led by Sergeant Maxie to stop the Octo rebels from taking the human back to Octo Canyon. The two squads had just got done prepping their strategy for the assault on the rig that the Sergeant had gone over. The octolings got to their stations and made sure that their ink tanks were full. Sergeant Maxie pulled out her knife and recanted her fight with the major back at Camper's hideout. She glared at the knife ready for the battle ahead of her.

"One minute until we get into range!" shouted the octozeppelin pilot. the sergeant broke out of her thought and shook her head to recompose her emotions. She stuck the knife back into it's sheath and walked over to where the octolings were about to deploy.

"Alright troops! We're closing in on the rig so get ready to octo jump when we get into range and watch each other's backs! I want everyone alive when this is done, we make this quick and clean and don't fire upon any of the inklings unless they fire back, our main threat is the rebels and the target is the human, do I make myself clear!" said the sergeant sternly.

"Yes Ma'am!" all the octolings shouted.

"Good! Get Ready!" shouted the sergeant.

"30 seconds" shouted the pilot.

The sergeant got to her station and checked her weapon and ink tank. She gave a deep breath hoping the mission went successfully without a hitch. Thoughts were racing through her mind remembering what her lieutenant told her before she left the base.

"10 Seconds" shouted the pilot.

After that the octozeppelin was shaking, they could hear ink hitting the outside as the octozeppelin as it was starting to rock. "We're taking fire! Hold on!" shouted the pilot.

"Looks like they've spotted us! Open the bay door and prepare to jump on the rig in 5...4...3...2...1! Jump for it!" shouted the sergeant as the octolings shifted form and jumped out of the bay and onto the rig while evading ink shots from the rebels. The sergeant was the last one to jump as she octo formed and jumped out as the octozeppelin started to bank out of the enemy fire.

"good luck sergeant!" the pilot yelled as she went out the bay door.

"I don't need it!" shouted the sergeant as she saw an opening and landed on a clear spot on the platform. She shifted forms back in the air as she cut a flip and landed on her feet. She took cover before the skirmish began getting her weapon ready as her unit moved in. The octo rebels got behind cover and fired at the octolings that boarded the rig to stop their plans. The octolings returned fired and battle had commenced.

The sergeant sat up and fired on some of the rebel octotroopers who were advancing on their position. She splatted two of them while her unit splatted the rest. She sat back down behind cover and pulled out the picture of her and the major that was taken over 2 years ago. "I'm coming for you Major,...and I'll be ready," said the sergeant sternly as the battle between the rebels and her unit ensued.


	32. Arc 2 Chapter 17

**Arc 2 Chapter 17**

Blake dashed inside a locker in the room he and Loppy had hidden in. He closed the locker and peered out of the vent holes to see who was coming in. The door opened and two inklings stormed in with their weapons drawn as they scanned the room. They looked around as they searched the room for the human. "Alright, I know I heard something," said one of the inklings.

Loppy was rushing to get her clothes back on as she bumped into a paint can knocking it off the crate. "Who's there!?" shouted the inkling.

It sounded like it came from over there!" shouted the other inkling pointing to where Loppy was hiding.

The inklings closed in on the pile of crates as Loppy nervously covered her mouth. she kneeled down trying to hide hoping that she wasn't discovered. The inklings were just about over the create as Blake watched the inklings, He was wanting to act. Loppy would soon be discovered and he felt sympathy for the inkling gal. So he decided he had no choice to reveal himself seeing that he would eventually be found but he didn't want Loppy to get in trouble.

Blake went to open the locker only for the door to jam. He punched and elbowed the door getting the inklings attention. The door finally came open and Blake fell down on the floor. He looked up and saw the two inklings have their ink guns drawn on him.

"Look at what have here," sneered one inkling with his ink gun pointed at Blake's face.

"Well Camper will be glad to hear about this, speaking of Camper, where's Loppy, if Camper hears you've done something with her, you're gonna be sorry!" said the other inkling.

"Let's get this human back to the boss, alright fossil let's go! So don't try anything!" shouted the inkling grabbing Blake with the other one jabbing Blake in the back with his weapon.

"No, Blake!" shouted Loppy quietly as she watched the inklings apprehend him from behind the crates. Loppy dashed out from behind the cover revealing herself to the two inklings dragging Blake out the door.

"Stop! Don't hurt him! I'm right here, he didn't take me!" explained Loppy to the two.

Loppy!? What do you mean?" asked the confused inkling.

I'm the one you knocked out Butch, I took the human and hid him away from Camper, This isn't right, Camper shouldn't give the human to those octarians!" exclaimed Loppy concerned over Blake. The inklings were utterly shocked by the revelation and felt indifferent toward her input while Blake had felt sympathy for the inkling.

"Why do you care?" asked one of the inklings.

"Yeah, and wait until Camper hears about this! You better come with us too!" commanded the other inkling.

Loppy slowly walked up to the two with her hands up and their ink guns drawn on her. All of a sudden she rushed and kicked the ink gun out of one of the inkling's hands, knocking it across the room. She then kicked him down on the floor. The other inkling let go of Blake and grabbed Loppy from behind.

"Blake run for it!" shouted Loppy as the other inkling had a hold of her.

Blake nodded and ran out the door down a corridor away from the group. "Dammit!" jeered the inkling that had a hold of Loppy.

The other inkling sat up and rubbed his head gritting his teeth. He looked back at Loppy with a glare and got up. He gave her a hard slap causing her to lose some resistance as she yelped from the slap. "You little squid! Camper will deal with you after he's heard what you did," he exclaimed to Loppy as he put his finger in her face.

"Take her to Camper! I'll go after the human!" shouted the inkling. He squid formed and chased after Blake while the other one drug Loppy out of the room and back onto the deck to face Camper.

Blake ran to the end of the corridor and came across another door. He opened it and ran inside locking the door behind him. The room appeared to be the communications hub with a radio on the otherside of the room. He ran over and studied the equipment. he saw what appeared to be a microphone hooked up to a radio channel scanner and he sat down and pressed the button on the side of it.

A square-shaped light display came that said recording when Blake pressed the button. "Hopefully I can get a hold of someone," said Blake.

He cleared his throat and grabbed the microphone close to his mouth and he began his message.

"Mayday! Mayday! This is the Saltspray Rig! Come In!" said Blake.

The inkling swam down the corridor until he arrived at the radio room which Blake locked behind him. The inkling changed forms and turned the knob, it was locked and he banged on the door. "Hey Human! Open this door and I won't break every bone in your body!" shouted the inkling as he continued to bang on the door.

Blake looked over to the door and started to panic as he put out another message.

"Please anyone hearing this send help!" exclaimed Blake.

The inkling got agitated and decided to run back away from the door. He got a running start toward the door and squid formed before he tackled the door down gaining access to the room.

Blake attempted to put out another quick message as the inkling got up and rushed Blake from the doorway.

"This is a recorded message! Hurry! Blake out!" shouted Blake as he got punched in the face by the angry inkling and fell down on the floor. The inkling then proceeded to kick Blake in the gut as Blake coughed up blood. He looked up at the pissed inkling and his vision got blurry.

* * *

Marie and Callie were waiting on Cassie to get to the wharf as they were ready to leave. Callie was sitting in the boat looking at her cousin. "Marie? You think Cass will get here soon?" asked Callie.

"I hope so Cal, we need to leave as soon as possible, I just hope it's not too late," said Marie.

Just then the two of them spotted a lime green squid heading toward the pier. She shifted back to her humanoid form with her agent gear on and her hero shot. "I'm here!" she exclaimed. "So what's going on!?" she asked anxiously.

"We believe Blake's in trouble. He sent a distress call from the Saltspray Rig on the radio at Cuttlefish's shack. We're going to head to the rig and rescue him," explained Marie.

"We're never gonna get there fast enough in this thing! Their's no other way to get to the Saltspray Rig?" asked Cassie as she looked at Cuttlefish's boat.

"I'm afraid not, It's our only option, let's just hope it can even get us to the rig, now get on, Cass," directed Marie.

Cass jumped on the boat shaking it with Callie fidgeting around startled from the boat moving. "Hey! Watch it!" she shouted. "sorry, Cal, I can't help this thing is little," said Cassie.

"Alright you two, ready?" asked Marie as she untied the rope from the wharf. They both looked at her and nodded. You could tell they were fearful of the journey as inklings couldn't swim and as a result, they would splat if they dove off into the water. Callie crossed her arms between her legs and Cassie nervously looked around for any leaks.

"Alright (deep breath), here we go," said Marie as she climbed in the boat rocking it. "ahhh! Marie don't do that!" shouted a panicked Callie. "Whoops, my bad Cal," apologized Marie.

The three started to leave the pier on Cuttlefish's dinghy when they saw an inkling run up on the pier waving at them. It was Izzy shouting and waving at them at the end of the dock. "Izzy?!" exclaimed Cassie in surprise.

"Cass!" she yelled waving at the three of them.

"Izzy what are you doing here?!" exclaimed Cassie looking back at Izzy.

"I wanted to wish you the best of luck on your agent mission! Please make it back!" shouted Izzy as she waved at the three of them.

Marie looked at Cassie with indignation. "So I'm assuming you told Izzy about the squidbeak squad and that you're an agent," said Marie with her arms crossed annoyed at Cassie.

"Marie, I'm sorry but back at the hideout, I didn't know what else to tell her," explained Cassie defending herself.

"(sigh) I guess she would've found out eventually," said Marie shaking her head. "Well, you didn't tell her about Blake did you?" asked Marie still annoyed.

"No, Marie! She doesn't know about Blake!" shouted Cassie getting annoyed herself.

"Well good! I wouldn't want anyone else to find out about him. I hate to know how Inkopolis would react if they found out a human has been alive all this time, I don't think anyone is ready to find out about him, He could be taken away by the authorities and we would never see him again. Gramps would kill us if that happened," said Marie with concern.

Cassie turned her head and looked down on the floor of the boat. Callie was looking at her with sympathy wishing her cousin wasn't so hard on her.

Cassie was stuck in thought as Marie directed the motor of the boat as the three of them slowly made it out further in the bay. Callie was freezing in fear being that far out from land as Marie tried to suppress her fear focusing on getting to the Saltspray Rig.

Cassie was recanting the evening when they left Camper's hideout getting Cleo to safety. When they left she and Izzy headed back to the apartment. The two remained quiet on their way there with Izzy having thoughts running through her mind about Cassie and the events that unfolded. They made their way to Cassie's apartment on the upper floors and went inside. Cassie laid her hero shot down and made her way to the fridge to grab a soda. Izzy just looked at Cassie with concern and wasn't sure what to say.

Cassie looked back at Izzy and gave a sigh. "I guess you're wondering what's going on," said Cassie. Izzy just stared at Cassie and nodded her head.

"(sigh) I'm... an agent for the squidbeak squad," said Cassie.

"Agent? Squidbeak Squad?" uttered a confused Izzy.

"We're a group of inklings that have made a vow to protect the city and everyone in from anything that threatens it. I'm the one who brought the great zapfish back from Octavio and the octarians," explained Cassie.

"I... heard about that, but no one knew who or why the great zapfish went missing. That was you?" asked Izzy with a look of shock.

"Yeah, but we're sworn to keep our agency and identities a secret. I just violated that oath telling you all this but I knew you wanted an explanation and I couldn't keep it a secret forever," said Cassie with remorse bending her head down.

Izzy walked over to Cassie placing her hand on her shoulder. "Cass I...I think that's...AWESOME! yelled Izzy jumping up with her fist in the air with excitement.

"Huh?" said Cassie with confusion.

"A secret agent! That's so FRESH!" shouted Izzy.

"really? I thought you might have been... I don't know... worried or something," said Cassie relieved by Izzy's reaction.

"What! No way! I think finding out you're a squidbeak agent is cool! How did you join? What's it like?" asked an anxious Izzy.

"Whoa, Izzy! slow down! It's not as cool and exciting as you think it is, It's dangerous and I fought a lot of Octarians getting the zapfish back as well as facing up against Octavio. It wasn't easy, to say the least. I joined soon after I lost the splat tournament match and broke up with Ross or should I say Camper. I didn't know what I was getting into but I had a job to do and the inklings needed the zapfish back," said Cassie.

"You're the one that got the great zapfish back! And you stopped Octavio!" shouted Izzy with overexcitement.

"Well with some help from the other agents," said Cassie blushing and rubbing the back of her head.

"I wanna ba an agent, Cass! How do I join?! Please! Pretty please Cass!" said a pleading Izzy with puppy-dog eyes.

"What?! Izzy no! It's too dangerous and besides, you've haven't even been in turf war match," said a critical Cassie who displeased that Izzy would want to even join.

"But Cass..." started Izzy only to be cut off. "No buts, I don't want you getting killed Izzy,It's way to dangerous and I couldn't bear losing you, you just came to Inkopolis and haven't even competed in a turf match yet, how are you gonna make it doing fieldwork for the squidbeak squad if a threat arises again, then what!" said Cassie with concern as she gave a long sigh.

Izzy laid her head down in disappointment. "You're... right, Cass... what was I thinking..." said Izzy depressingly.

Cassie rubbed her arm and turned her head feeling remorse about the conversation but she didn't want something to happen to her best friend. Cassie looked back at Izzy who still had her head down and walked over to her.

"Izzy I... don't want anything to happen to you, It's just you've been my only friend lately and I... couldn't live with myself if you got killed. I know it sounds exciting and all but it's very serious and dangerous, I'm fortunate to make it back from retrieving the great zapfish, I was terrified that I wouldn't see my friends or family ever again," explained Casie consoling Izzy.

"I know, I just thought... I wanted to be an agent like you, we could do missions together and watch each other's backs," said Izzy looking up at Cassie.

Cassie gave Izzy a smile and hugged her. "well how about this, focus on training and competing in the turf war games, then maybe you could join the squidbeak squad, ok," said Cassie.

"ok then, thanks Cass, I'll do my best at the turf matches and then I can be an honorary squidbeak agent!" shouted Izzy with confidence as she hugged back Cassie.

Izzy let go of Cassie and gave her a toothy smile. "Well, speaking of which, I gotta run and meet up with the other squidbeak agents. I'll be back Izzy. And another I wanted to ask before I leave. I know today has been exhilarating and I'm still sorry about Camper and all but would you like to go to the square opening and see Off the Hook play? asked Cassie rubbing her arm.

"You know I would!" shouted Izzy as she jumped in the air.

"Alright then, As soon as I get back we'll head to the square," said Cassie as she was walking out the door.

"Ok Cass, see you back!" shouted Izzy as she waved at Cassie going out the door.

* * *

Blake felt a sharp pain in his stomach from the kick that inkling gave him back in the radio room. He was half consciense looking around with his vision blurred. He was being dragged back to the main deck to face Camper and the elite. The inkling shoved him down and he looked up and saw Camper giving him a death stare. Loppy was being restrained by the inkling that had her back at the room with a red handprint on her face from when she was slapped.

"Your little game of hide and seek is over fossil. What I understand is you sent out a distress call on the radio. It doesn't matter, we'll be long gone before anyone decides to come and rescue you. Your fortunate the octo rebels want your ass or I'd drop you in the water and feed you to the sharks," jeered Camper.

Camper looked back at Loppy and walked over to her. "And as for you, I outta turn you into a puddle of ink for even helping the fossil, I thought you were better than that babe, it's too bad," said Camper.

"Camper please don't! It's just I... felt bad for him, He's the last of his kind. He doesn't deserve this! You don't know what those octarians are goin' to do to him," exclaimed Loppy.

"do I flippin' care, and why should you? he's a human, a fossil, he doesn't belong here anyway, he outta be like that fossil back in the Institute," said Camper insensitivity.

"He's not a fossil! He's a person! And he could've been a better boyfriend than you!" shouted Loppy.

"What! You would go out with this... HUMAN! That's disgusting! I can't believe I would hook up with a squid like you, get her outta here. I'll deal with her later!" shouted Camper as Loppy got taken away by the inkling.

Camper glared back at Blake and then looked back at the rebel leader. "Take him! Before I change my mind and throw him overboard! I just want the rest of my payment!" demanded Camper.

"Very well squid, he's the rest of your payment," said the elite as an octoling walked over and gave Camper a briefcase.

"Alright, restrain the human," ordered the elite as her two guards walked over and placed cuffs on Blake's hands. They got Blake up and guided him over to their leader. "Well, you've made things more difficult than they should've been but I do love a challenge," said the elite looking over Blake while being held by her two guards.

Blake just glared at her and gave a sigh. "So, should I ask what you plan on doing with me?' asked Blake with a displeased tone.

"You'll find out soon enough, then after that, I can't guarantee I'll keep you alive or not, it all depends how useful you are," said the elite snidely.

Blake looked down and was unsure what his fate would be with the octarians. "Now get the human loaded up in the sub and..." ordered the elite as she was cut off by one of the octoling soldiers.

"Major! We have company!" shouted the octoling as he pointed to an approaching octozeppelin.

"It's the octarian army! To your battle stations!" shouted the elite.

The octo rebels scrambled behind cover and got ready to attack the zeppelin when it got close enough. Camper and his gang panicked as they were frozen in fear unsure what to do.

"Camper what do we do?" shouted butch holding Loppy.

"Shit! Let the octopi deal with their own, we got the money! Gather up the guys and let's get the squid outta here!" exclaimed Camper as he headed back down to the boat with butch gathering up the rest of the crew to escape.

As the inklings squid formed and headed toward the boat the octozeppelin was within range of the rebels. "Fire! Shoot down that ship before the octolings jump on the rig!" barked the elite.

The rebels fired at the octozeppelin but was doing little damage until the bay opened on the ship and octopi could be seen jumping out and landing torward the rig below. "Shoot! Shoot the octolings!" shouted a octoling rebel.

The octoling unit managed to make it onboard the rig with no casualties as one last octopus jumped out as the octozeppelin banked and steering away from the rig.

"It's my old friend the sarge, hmpf, I didn't expect her to show her face again, especially after that cut I gave her," sneered the elite.

Even though the octoling unit and the rebels use the same ink, the octoling army had tampered with its ink properties so that it would have harmful effects on the opposing rebels. The octarians in the army and the octarians in the rebellion put out different biological readings and opposing ink would harm one another.

The rebels opened fire on the octoling unit as they scrambled for cover. They exchanged fire with the rebels once they got ready to attack. rebel octotroopers on their platforms scurried toward the octoling unit in an attempt to keep them gunned down but failed as the octotroopers got close enough making themselves easy targets.

The octosniper on a high platform aimed down on the unit trying to pick off as many octolings as it could. The octolings had managed to get behind cover as it shot at them with one octoling getting shot in the shoulder and was critically hurt. One octoling managed to get a shot lined up on the octosniper and shot it when it targeted another octoling. The octosniper was plated, which allowed the octoling unit to advance.

Blake was being taken to the octo rebels sub while the battle was ensuing on the main deck of the rig. They made it to the staircase heading down toward the sub.

"ok human, get a move on!" shouted an octoling shoving him down with her weapon. Blake nervously looked down the stairs and then back up to the deck. "Hurry it up!" shouted the octoling again shoving him with her weapon. 'Hey watch it!" shouted Blake back at the octoling.

Meanwhile, Camper and his crew were making their way to the boat. They could hear firing being exchanged between the rebels and octoling unit that jumped from the octozeppelin. "Alright! Let's get outta here! Before..." said Camper as he panned off when he saw a small boat approach the rig.

"Wait, that look's like... Cassie!" exclaimed Camper in utter shock. Just then Cassie spotted Camper and squid jumped to the rig's little pier. As she landed she formed back and kicked Camper down hard enough to knock him into some inklings behind him before he could touch the ground. "Going somewhere Camper?" jeered Cassie.

Camper was moaning from the kick on top of crew members. Loppy was lying behind the group. She slowly got up and realized that she could get away. She looked at the dog pile of Camper and the other inklings then saw Cassie. She panicked, so she took this time to squid form and get away, going back up the stairs and onto the main deck.

"B...Boss, Loppy got away!" exclaimed the moaning Butch next to Camper.

"Forget her!" shouted Camper holding his stomach.

Camper slowly got up off the inklings and shook his head. He saw Cassie stand in front of him with her hero shot pointed at him. He growled and glared at Cassie. "I'm assuming you didn't come back here to hook back up with me, did you?" sneered Camper with a slight smirk.

"Can it squid! What makes you think I would ever get back with a person like you. You're gonna pay for what you put me and Izzy through and kidnapping Blake!" exclaimed Cassie.

"Hmpf, still the same old Cassie, persistent and nieve as always. Well, you're too late for your fossil friend. The octo rebels have him and their gonna take him back to Octo Canyon and you're never gonna see him again," said Camper snidely.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't splat you right now!" shouted Cassie furiously as she had her finger on the trigger.

"Haaa! You don't have the guts squid! I know you too well Cassie, we both know you're not gonna do it!" sneered Camper with a grin.

Cassie growled and bared her fangs at Camper as she got ready to shoot him.

"Cassie Stop!" shouted a voice behind her. "Don't Do it!" shouted another.

She turned and saw the squid sisters rush up towards her after parking Cuttlefish's boat. "Cassie, that's exactly what he wants you to do, He's pulling your tentacle so you do something so low as him. I know he's done some terrible things but he needs to be taken in and think about all he's done," said Marie.

"Cass, I know he's a jerk, but listen to Marie, don't stoop to his level," pleaded Callie.

Cassie looked at the squid sisters' reasoning expressions and her anger started to resolve. She downed her head in remorse for even thinking of killing Camper. "You're... right you guys... I could've done something drastic... I don't know what came over me," said Cassie.

"Cass, me and Cal both know you, you wouldn't live with yourself doing something like that," said Marie.

"yeah, Cass we're friends and think about Izzy and what she would think about what you would've done," said Callie.

"you guys... thank for snapping me outta that. we are friends and we..." said Cassie in resolve as she was interrupted.

"Well isn't this touching moment but I gotta be leaving so get outta my way!" shouted Camper in indignation.

"You're not going anywhere!" yelled Cassie turning back to Camper.

"Don't think we've forgotten what you've done. Now you and your crew are going to stand down and surrender, you have no way out so end this peacefully now," ordered Marie.

"Yeah, you Jerk! Now tell us where Blake is!" shouted Callie.

"As I said, the octo rebels have the fossil. As far as I'm concerned they've probably done left and are heading back to Octo Canyon right now, good luck getting him back, alive that is," sneered Camper.

"No! Blake!" shouted Callie with grave concern.

"That's not gonna happen, Cassie take him in while me and Callie go hunt for Blake," said Marie.

"With pleasure," jeered Cassie.

While they were talking, Camper had his N-Zap behind his back ready to shoot at the three of them at the given chance. "I love to see you try!" shouted Camper as he pulled out his N-Zap and shot at the group. Callie and Marie squid formed to evade the fire and Cassie jumped up in the air landing right in front of Camper. She knocked the N-Zap out of his hand into the water. "You little!" yelled Camper rubbing his hand.

"It's over Ross!" shouted Cassie with her hero shot on him.

"Not yet it's not!" jeered Camper before he squid formed and rushed back up the stairs to the upper deck. The two inkling crew members stood back and drew their weapons on Cassie shooting at her so Camper could getaway. She dodged their shots and splatted both of them at the opportunity. The squid sisters changed forms and rushed behind Cassie. "Go after him Cass, we'll find Blake, hopefully before it's too late," said Marie.

Cassie nodded and squid formed chasing after Camper to the upper deck of the rig. "Let's go, Cal," said Marie as the two left to the upper deck to find Blake.

* * *

10 minutes earlier not long before the fighting between the octarians started Blake was being guided to the octo rebel sub. He and the two octolings that were with him had just about reached the sub when all of a sudden a figure could be seen running down an adjacent walkway near them watching the three head for the sub.

"Inform the major that we've reached the sub and that we're ready to fall back to base," ordered one to the octolings.

"Yes, Ma'am," said another octoling as he hopped inside the sub.

"Alright, Human get in!" demanded the octoling as she had her weapon against Blake.

Just then a shot could be heard hitting the octoling with her weapon on Blake. She yelped and dropped in the water dissolving instantly. The other octoling popped to the hatch of the sub from the yelp he heard and was shot and splatted instantly. Blake was shaken up and was unsure what had happened and who saved him. He turned and saw an octopus come down the stairs toward him. Blake feared that he was about to be apprehended again and put on the sub.

The octopus got in front of him about 3 meters away and changed back to her humanoid form. "Stay back!" yelled a startled Blake still in restraints. The octoling stared at him behind her goggles as Blake was studying her spotting a cut mark on her cheek. After a moment she pulled out her knife and approached Blake. "Wait, I didn't kill your comrades, please don't kill me!" pleaded Blake as he backed up. He soon stumbled backwards landing on the small pier by the sub. The octoling was right over him as Blake clenched and closed his eyes waiting to be beaten or worse. Just then the octoling walked behind him and kneeled down using her knife to pick the cuff lock.

"Huh?" said a confused Blake hearing the lock click and feeling the cuffs being removed.

He looked back with a look of both compassion and confusion. "What? But why... are you freeing me?" asked Blake looking at the octoling.

The octoling put her knife back in its sheath. She gave the human a serious expression and took off her goggles. "My name Sergeant Maxie, I'm here to rescue you and take you back to our base," she said plainly.

"umm... what? But those octolings, you aren't with them, sorry but I'm a little confused," said Blake unsure about the situation.

"I'm not part of the octo rebels it that's what you're thinking, We're part of the new octarian army and I'm here to bring you back to Octo Valley so you didn't fall in the hands of the rebels. Don't worry we're not going to hurt you, it's just simply amazing that I would meet a human for the first time, I'm honored to be in your presence," said the Sergeant as she gave a bow to Blake.

"well, thank you for rescuing me, my name's Blake, Blake Carter and I'm pleased to meet you, sergeant," said Blake giving her a quick bow.

"I have so many questions to ask you, but we need to hurry and get you outta here, let's head back up to the main deck, we'll find a safe place while we get ready for the octozeppelin to return once the area is clear," said the sergeant.

The two cautiously made their way back up the stairs but on their way, Blake's curiosity got the best of him about his predicament as he looked over to the octoling that saved him.

"Hey, sergeant, what do the octo rebels want with me anyway?" asked Blake.

"We're not completely sure, we're still trying to figure that out, but we knew it couldn't be good," said the sergeant.

Just as they made it to the top a figure jumped out with a large paint roller and swung down toward the two. "Don't you dare hurt Blake!" the figure shouted as the roller came down on them.

* * *

10 minutes earlier, Just as the battle had started, the octarian forces landed down on the rig exchanging fire with the octo rebels. One last octoling landed on the deck behind them and dove for cover. A group of Octotroopers moved toward the octarian forces in an attempt to suppress their assault but failed as the octotroopers were put down quickly.

The last octoling that jumped out of the octozeppelin followed behind her unit that was slowly pushing the rebel octolings back while splatting any octotroopers that covered their backs. The octoling behind the unit saw their plan was succeeding and decided to pull off and headed down to the right side of the rig to where the octo rebel sub was parked in pursuit of something.

The octo rebels were pulling back while waiting for further orders from their commander. The major was watching from a high platform watching the fighting. She soon spotted her old friend and nemesis Sergeant Maxie. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the octoling. "Don't you worry Maxie, we'll be meeting one another very soon. You can count on that and we'll finish our little "discussion" with a knife in your back," said the elite coldly.

Just then an octopus hopped on the platform and changed back. The octoling stood and looked at her. "Major, waiting for further orders, we're losing ground and the octarian forces have taken the main deck and are closing in on us," said the octoling soldier in a panicked tone.

The elite just gave her an indignant look as she turned towards her. "Radio to the base to send in some octostrikers to cover our rear while we fall back to the sub but I want you to assemble a task force to ensure the human stays in our possession as we hurry back to Octo Canyon, I won't leave here without that human!" said the elite as the octoling saluted and hopped back down.

The elite turned and looked back at the octoling sergeant. She was eager to defeat her old friend. Tha major rubbed her scar that went across the eye remembering how she had got it. "(sigh) old scars never heal," is all the elite said as she continued to watch the two while the battle had gone on.


	33. Arc 2 Chapter 18

**Arc 2 Chapter 18**

Izzy was back in Inkopolis square after leaving the wharf waving goodbye and wishing luck to Cassie and them. Thoughts and worries were stewing through her mind after Cassie left. She started seeing the square fill with turf players eager for the new tower to open up the lobby. She got behind the large crowd of inklings and was curious to see what was going on. There were A ranked turf players in front of the tower lobby taking in requests for team recruiting.

Many of the inklings were jumping and raising their hands hoping to get picked by the seasoned turf players. Inklings were shoving and pushing trying to get upfront to be picked while Izzy was jumping up and even climbing up the shoulder of a player until she was knocked down. "Watch it rookie!" shouted the inkling to Izzy as she was sitting on the ground.

"Sorry! I just wanted to see what was going on," said Izzy to the agitated inkling.

"Nothing that would concern a rookie like you, I can tell, because you're carrying a starter kit like all the other fresh new turfers. You wouldn't last 5 minutes in a match," said the inkling snidely.

The inkling was a female with pink short tentacles. She had a dark-complected skin tone with orange eyes. She wore a white tank top with a squid logo on it and a black undershirt beneath it with black tight shorts. She also donned a baseball cap on top her head as she glared at Izzy.

"The name's Suki so you know and I'd appreciate it if a little rookie squid like you stays outta my way, got it!" Suki said sternly.

Izzy looked back at the inkling girl and nodded. She slowly got up and brushed herself looking at an indignant inkling.

Izzy turned away pouting from the inkling's behavior and slowly walked past the square's studio.

Marina was inside sitting at her DJ booth when she spotted Izzy walking past the window with a depressed expression.

Marina walked out to greet Izzy and see what was wrong. She grabbed Izzy from behind her shoulder startling her as she turned around to see who it was. It was Marina giving her a comforting smile. "Hey Izzy, what's the matter?" she asked.

"It's nothing, Marina," said Izzy with a saddened tone as she turned and downed her head.

"It doesn't look like nothing to me, so what's the matter," asked Marina again.

"It's just... maybe I shouldn't be here, I don't know what I was thinking, coming to Inkopolis. I'll never be a good turfer like Cassie," said Izzy depressingly.

"Well, you won't be if you don't compete, It'll be ok Izzy," said Marina trying to console Izzy.

"No, it won't, Cassie had to go on a mission and I got belittled by a turf war player!" exclaimed a frustrated Izzy.

"Izzy, I'm sure it was important, She'd want you to compete. You've been eager about playing since you came here," said Marina.

"I wish Cass was here with me, Marina. It's just I'm intimidated by the more experienced turfers. I'll never get to join a team. I might as well head back to the county," said a distressed Izzy dropping her starter kit. She ran off to sulk as Marina yelled at her. Marina picked up her case and chased after her.

"Izzy, Wait!" yelled Marina catching up with Izzy. She saw Izzy go behind a dumpster and sit down on the ground crying. Marina peered around the dumpster with the starter kit seeing Izzy covering her eyes.

"Izzy?" said Marina as she kneeled down comforting the crying inkling girl.

Izzy was crying behind the dumpster. Marina went over to put her hand on her shoulder.

After a moment Izzy's tears resided and she looked up at Marina. She sniffled and slowly got up hugging Marina. "(sigh) I...wanna wait until Cass gets back... before I start playing in the turf battle, Marina," said Izzy.

"You... sure?" asked Marina

"Yeah, It's not that big of a deal. Cassie's my friend and I want her to be here to cheer me on," said Izzy getting her composure back.

"Well, Cassie's very fortunate to have a friend like you. It's good your putting your friend before the turf war battles. I'm sure you'll become great turf war player Izzy," said Marina with a smile.

"Thanks, Marina, that means a lot coming from you," said Izzy.

"You're welcome, well here's your starter kit. I gotta head back to the studio, I'm sure Pearl is wondering where I went to. We gotta give the news report on the opening of the new Deca Tower before the lobby opens, I'll see you another time," said Marina as she handed Izzy the starter kit and walked away waving.

"Bye, Marina," waved Izzy as Marina headed back to the studio.

Izzy decided to head to the tutorial area and train with her splattershot jr. before playing in the turf battles. She was hoping Cassie would make it back before she got on a team and played.

* * *

Back at the Saltspray Rig, Cassie was pursuing Camper in squid form. He had weaved threw obstacles and slipped past the octo rebels that were fighting the octarian forces that boarded the rig. He made it to the rear section of the rig and reached a dead end. There were no ladders or stairs or platforms he could make it to escape. He formed back and looked behind him to see a little green squid appear on the opposite side of the rear deck.

Cassie changed back to her bipedal form and stared at Camper with determination to capture her ex-boyfriend. "You've run outta options Ross, their's no way out so give up while you can," said Cassie with her hero shot pointed at him.

"Hmpf, I've always got an option," sneered Camper.

"What the coward's way jumping off the deck and dissolve in the water?" asked Cassie.

Camper saw that one of his crew members climbed on a walkway with a charger aimed at Cassie right after their confrontation.

"Nope, it's gonna involve you turning into a puddle of ink," sneered Camper eyeing the charger user on the walkway.

"How's that!?" shouted Cassie trying to resist splatting the inkling.

"This, SHOOT HER!" yelled Camper to the charger user. The charger user lined up his shot and fired at Cassie. Cassie turned to the charger user but it was too late, she was hit in the chest which made her fly back and yelp from the shot. Her weapon flew to the side and she laid on her back motionless on the deck.

Camper smirked and walked over to Cassie's lifeless body and kneeled over. He looked proudly down on Cassie admiring her defeat. "I told you I had an option, It's too bad though, an experienced turf player like you getting defeated like that, shame, but it was inevitable. You should've walked away from this when you had the chance, Cass," said Camper snuggly as he got up and turned away.

Just then Cassie's hand started to move and ball up into a fist. She quickly grabbed her hero shot laying beside her and shot the charger user splatting him. Camper jerked seeing the charger user shot and turned back to Cassie who was standing, aiming her weapon where the charger-welding inkling was. He was dumbfounded seeing Cassie pull off playing possum and soon she aimed the hero shot back at him. She pulled the trigger and shot at Camper only hitting him in the arm. He yelped in pain and stumbled back clutching his numb arm.

"Give up Camper!" shouted Cassie intending to shoot again if Camper still remained persistent.

"You little, ummm" jeered Camper in pain from the shot.

Cassie closed in on him and he frantically looked around and spotted the charger laying on the deck from the slain user. He squid formed rushed torward it while Cassie shot at him before he could reach it. He changed back and grabbed the Charger and dove behind cover. He soon quickly peered out and shot at Cassie with the charger. She managed to avoid the shot.

Cassie dove behind cover before Camper fired another shot. Butch and two other inklings arrived at the rear deck with their weapons drawn, they spotted Camper kneeling behind a crate. "Boss!" Butch yelled as he rushed over to Camper with the two other inklings. They saw that he was injured and asked what had happened. "Nevermind me! Deal with the green-headed brat!" jeered Camper still in pain.

Butch and the inklings turned towards Cassie with their weapons drawn on her. "Looks like you're outnumbered," said Butch as they approached where Cassie was when all of a sudden two squids flew on the deck and landed in front of the three inklings. They changed back revealing that it was Callie and Marie holding their weapons. "She's not anymore!" shouted Marie. "Yeah! let's make this fair!" shouted Callie.

"Ha! That makes 3 against 4! I don't see how that's fair for you!" sneered Camper as he came out with charger, fighting the pain of his arm.

"No! that's 4 against 4!" shouted another voice coming from behind Cassie and the group. Cassie turned around, her eyes widened shocked to see Marie and Callie on top of the tank. She then turned behind her and saw Blake carrying his old bamboozler, giving her a smile.

"Blake?!" said a shocked Cassie seeing the human. He turned his head and gave her a grin. "We thought you might need help dealing with these assholes," said Blake.

Cassie looked back at him and gave a grin and turned back to Camper and his gang hopping out of cover beside Blake.

"Looks like we got ourselves a turf war match, you ready to get your ass handed to ya, Ross!" shouted Cassie proudly.

"Bring it! I'll turn all of you into ink puddles and then that human is mine!" sneered Camper gripping the charger in his hand.

* * *

20 minutes earlier, While Cassie chased after Camper, Callie and Marie made their way to the upper deck of the rig. They saw the octarians fighting octarians and were unsure what was going on so they got behind cover to avoid getting hit.

"What's going Marie!?" asked a panicked Callie.

"I don't know, why are they fighting each other?" asked Marie to herself.

After a moment the octarian unit pushed forward while the rebels fell back. The squid sisters took this opportunity to run behind the octarians and get across on the other side of the deck and continue searching for Blake. "Alright Cal, we'll cover more ground if we split up, try and avoid any of the inklings and the octarians if you can," said Marie.

"You got it, Marie," said Callie.

"Good, I head to the left side, you head to the right side and we'll meet up at the rear deck," said Marie as she squid formed and left. Callie gave a sigh and moved cautiously to the right side of the rig. She spotted more octarians ahead talking and giving gestures. She decided to squid form and move further up to avoid detection. When she got close she hid behind some barrels on the platform. One of the octarians was getting a message on her radio and the two octo formed and headed down the walkway past Callie.

"Phew, I'm glad they left, now to find Blake," said Callie as she changed back and continued walking down the platform. As time went by she heard voices down below where the small pier was but one of the voices sounded familiar. When she got to the ledge she saw Blake and Octoling holding a knife. Blake was pleading for the octoling not to hurt him but the octoling appeared to be not listening.

"Oh no! Blake!" shouted Callie as she rushed down to the staircase. She was not gonna let this octoling harm her human crush. She approached the top of the stairs and started to make her way down until she heard Blake's voice and the octolings's voice approaching upward. She couldn't make out what they were saying from the loud waves from below the rig so she decided to wait and ambush the octoling that had Blake.

Their footsteps were getting louder as they were getting closer to the top. Callie readied her roller and prepared to splat the octoling that tried to harm Blake. She assumed the octoling was leading Blake up the stairs and would be the first person to walk up. Just when the octoling and Blake were nearly at the top as Callie popped out from cover and swung her roller down on top of the octoling.

"Don't you dare hurt Blake!" Callie yelled as she swung down the roller.

The octoling was frozen in surprise as the roller came down, just then Blake rushed in front of the octoling and shielded her from the roller attack. He was slammed in the back and thrown downstairs holding onto the sergeant. They both tumbled down below with Blake landing on the bottom panel with the sergeant landing on top of him.

Oh No! Oh No! Blake! Are you ok!" shouted a panicked Callie as she dropped her roller and rushed down after them.

The sergeant picked herself up and slowly opened her eyes. She rubbed her head from the landing and quickly noticed that her face was very close to Blake as he sat up from the fall almost bumping his head into hers. The two met eye to eye and froze from the positions they were in. The sergeant's face began to blush as her goggles were knocked off from the fall. Blake gulped and was unsure what to do.

Just then Callie ran up to the two of them frantically. "Blake! Blake! Are you..." exclaimed Callie as she noticed how Blake and the octoling were positioned.

Callie froze at the sight and after a moment she snapped. "Get off of him!" she screamed at the octoling.

The octoling turned to her revealing her green eyes and the scar on her cheek. It's not what it looks like squid!" shouted the sergeant red-faced and with a look of indignation.

Callie backed up startled by the octoling's uproar then it occurred who she was. "Wait! your the octoling from back at the hideout!" exclaimed Callie in relief.

"Yes, squid, and why did you just try to slam that roller down on me!" roared the octoling.

"Wait! I'm sure she didn't mean too!" exclaimed Blake holding the sergeant back from jumping on Callie.

"I...I...I thought you were going to hurt Blake! I saw you with that knife!" explained Callie frantically while waving her hands in defense.

"I was freeing him from those cuffs you dim squid!" said the agitated sergeant.

"Both of you stop!" shouted Blake at the two of them.

The both of them looked back at him seeing his annoyed expression. "Look It was just a misunderstanding, I'm just glad no one got hurt, Callie was just looking out for me. She thought you were one of the rebels," explained Blake trying to pacify the situation.

The octoling turned away and crossed her arms.

As Blake walked over to Callie he jerked from the roller hitting him the back. Blake clenched in pain and Callie rushed over to him. "Blake! your hurt...I'm so sorry...I" started Callie concerned over Blake as he cut her off.

"Callie, it's ok, you didn't mean to, I'll be fine," said Blake as Callie soon rushed over and hugged him. The sergeant turned towards them hearing Blake was hurt and saw the squid sister hugging him. A pained look fell on her face as she saw the two hug one another, then turned away.

The two pulled off and rubbed their heads. "Where's Marie?" asked Blake.

"Me and her separated so we could find you, we were supposed to meet each other at the rear deck when we found you," explained Callie.

"Well I guess we'd better head that way then," said Blake.

"Hold on, I need to take you back to the octoling base, I'm not risking you getting captured again," said the sergeant sternly.

"Sergeant I'll be fine, I can..." said Blake as he was interrupted. "This isn't up for debate, You need to come with me, that's my orders," replied the octoling with her voice getting sterner.

"Please, let Blake go, I won't let him captured by those octo-jerks," pleaded Callie.

The octoling gave her an indifferent look and crossed her arms. After a few seconds, she gave a sigh and shook her head. "Very well then, you can take the hum... I mean Blake with you, being your such good friends, but I expect you to guard him with your life and please don't slam your roller on any of my guys, got it squid! I'm going to catch up with my unit and I want us to meet back at the main deck of this rig once the octo rebels have retreated," said the octoling not wanting the human to leave away with the squid sister. Conflicting thoughts were running through her head between the inkling and the human.

"I will! You can count on me!" I won't let anything happen to Blake!" exclaimed Callie excitedly.

"Good, I'm heading out and I expect you to keep your word squid," said the sergeant as she octo formed and headed back up to the main deck.

"What does she have against inklings? I don't understand why she can't be friends," said Callie as she looked back.

"Just let it go, Callie, we gotta go meet up with Marie anyway," said Blake.

Callie nodded and the two of them headed up the stairs and continued on to the rear deck where they were supposed to rendevous with the other squid sister.

* * *

On the left side of the rig, Marie managed to slip past any octo rebels that were near her and made it past the left deck and continued on to the rear deck of the rig. She had run down a catwalk leading to the rear deck of the rig, she saw that it was clear and continued on.

But unknown to her a figure was hiding behind a pile of barrels on the side of the catwalk on a covered platform. Marie caught the attention of the figure when she rushed past it. It noticed she was wearing a neon vest like the inkling that kicked Camper down at the pier. The figure walked out and it revealed to be Loppy by her cyan blue long tentacles and eyes to match with the mask-like marking around them.

"Who was that?" asked Loppy as she saw Marie disappear up ahead.

She was deciding whether or not to follow her but decide to follow and see if she could help her.

As Marie got closer she could hear some familiar voices. She stopped and snuck up behind a large tank and peered on to the rear deck. She saw Camper and three other inklings shoot at Cassie as she dove behind cover on the opposite side of the deck.

"Oh crap! Cassie! I gonna do something," shouted Marie quietly.

She squid formed and slithered behind the tanks facing out from the main body of the rig and made her way to the other side to aid Cassie when she heard two more voices approaching from the walkway. She decided to hide around the corner and see who it was. It was Callie and Blake running up toward her. She decided to grab them before they could reach the deck and get spotted by Camper and his guys.

Marie grabbed the both of them behind the large tank where she was at. The two of them were surprised as they stood and looked at Marie wondering what was going on.

"Marie?" exclaimed a surprised Callie. "Shush!" responded Marie placing her finger across her mouth to signal Blake and Callie to stay quiet.

"Marie, what's going on?" asked Callie quietly.

Look, on the other side of the tank on the rear deck," said Marie quietly.

Callie and Blake peered around the side of the tank and saw Cassie hunkered down behind a crate with Camper behind another and three of his crew members drawn on Cassie's location.

"(gasp) Cassie's in trouble! We gotta save her!" panicked Callie.

"We will, I have a plan," explained Marie.

The three of them huddled up and devised a plan to save Cassie from the four inklings that had her pinned down. "Me and Cal will jump out with our weapons before Camper and his goons can ever think to splat Cassie. That'll give time to get Blake ready and get Cassie outta there if things start going south, I don't think Camper will resist our little turf match on the rear deck," said Marie with a mischievous grin.

"But Marie, It'll technically be 3 vs 4 how can..." said Callie as she was cut off.

"Blake's going to be our 4th player," said Marie.

"Huh?" responded Blake and Callie in unison.

"But Marie, Blake doesn't even have a weapon and how's he..." said Callie as she was cut off again.

"Gramps thought Blake might need this," said Marie pulling his old bamboozler out a duffle bag she was carrying.

Blake stared at his old Bamboozler recanting the memories he had with it.

"I think gramps thought you could put to good use," said Marie. Before we left the shack. Cuttlefish grabbed Blake's old bamboozler just in case. He handed it to me before we reached the wharf, so I could hand to Blake just in case we got into a situation like this," explained Marie.

"But Marie, He doesn't even have an ink tank," said Callie.

"Gramps thought about that too, He fixed and modified your bamboozler. He filled the barrel with his ink so you're very limited on how many shots you can get off, so make them count," explained Marie.

Blake nodded and held up the bamboozler. "I'm kinda curious to see you in action, Blake," said Marie with a smile.

"It's been a while, so don't expect much," said Blake.

"You can do it Blake!" shouted Callie before remembering to stay quiet and covered her mouth.

"Alright, Are we ready?" asked Marie. Blake and Callie both nodded clutching their weapons.

"Ok, let's do this and Blake, remember what I said if things don't look good," said Marie.

Both Callie and Marie jumped out of cover on top of the tank they were hiding behind after hearing Camper's men say that Cassie was outnumbered.

"Not anymore!" shouted Marie on top of the tank.

"Yeah! Let's make this fair!" shouted Callie.

"Ha! That makes 3 against 4! I don't see how that's fair for you!" sneered Camper as he came out with charger, fighting the pain of his arm.

On cue, Blake ran from behind the tank and behind Cassie, standing next to her.

"No! that's 4 against 4!" shouted another voice coming from behind Cassie and the group. Cassie was surprised and looked to her right and saw Blake carrying his old bamboozler.

"Blake?!" said a shocked Cassie seeing the human. He turned his head and gave her a grin. "We thought you might need help dealing with these assholes," said Blake.

Cassie looked back at him and gave a grin and turned back to Camper and his gang hopping out of cover beside Blake.

"Looks like we got ourselves a turf war match, you ready to get your ass handed to ya, Ross!" shouted Cassie proudly.

* * *

Sergeant Maxie was on the main deck while her unit dispersed through parts of the rig apprehending the octo rebels. While she stood in the middle of the main deck a figure was watching her from the shadows. The figure gave a sinister grin and pulled out a knife. She watched the octoling behind her goggles that are commonly issued out to octoling soldiers. She waited for her opportunity to ambush the red-tentacled octoling that turned her back away from her direction.

"I have you now," jeered the figure quietly. She octo formed and jumped in the air in an attempt to pounce on the octoling. The octoling regular looked up and evaded the attack and jumped back with the elite landing a couple of meters in front of her. "repeating the same attack from before, that's not like you old friend," said the sergeant as she faced the elite.

"hmpf, I guess you didn't pay attention then, Sergeant," sneered the elite. The octoling didn't notice that while the elite was in mid-air she lobbed a splat bomb to where she knew the sergeant would jump to.

The octoling gave her a confused look and heard a noise behind her. It was splat bomb but before she could react it detonated and exploded making the octoling fly forward. She landed right in front of the elite with her back covered in ink. She couldn't move as she was in pain from the explosion. The elite grabbed her by the tentacles and slung her almost throwing her off the deck. She tumbled near the ledge and looked back at the elite. She gritted her teeth trying to stay conscience from the pain she was in.

The elite approached the octoling with her knife unsheathed glaring at her nemesis. She pressed her boot against the sergeant's back as she yelped in pain while she gave a devilish grin. "I guess this is the end of the line for you, old friend. It's too bad you couldn't see things my way, you would've made a great commander for my unit but that option is still on the table. So call off your that unit of yours and maybe I'll spare you if you join the octo rebels," said the elite pressing harder against the octoling's back.

"S...Screw...you!...I'll never...join you!" clenched the Sergeant baring her fangs.

The elite got annoyed and let her foot off the octoling's back. She picked up the sergeant by her tentacles and pressed the knife against her neck.

"Hmpf, stubborn to the end, very well Sergeant, enjoy your last breath because I'm going to..." said the elite as she was cut short as the octoling found enough strength to clench her right fist and punch the elite in the face. The elite yelped and stumbled back letting go of the sergeant.

The sergeant was kneeling down catching her breath. She looked back to the elite that was recovering from the blow. Her goggles were knocked off revealing that the sergeant hit her in the right eye where her scar was. While holding her eye she glared back at the sergeant gritting her teeth.

The sergeant slowly got up and spit out some ink from the splat bomb and glared back at the elite. She got in a fighting stance resolving the pain and pulling her knife out ready to fight her old mentor.

"So, that's how it is, alright then," said the elite taking her hand off her eye and picking up her knife.

"Let's end this, major," said the sergeant flipping her knife.

The two had gotten ready to battle each other as they had their knives out. They both stared down each other waiting for someone to make the first move.


	34. Arc 2 Chapter 19

**Arc 2 Chapter 19**

Cassie, Blake, and the squid sisters were on the rear deck ready to get into a turf battle with Camper and three of his gang members. Cassie had come out of cover with Blake behind her to her right side. Callie and Marie jumped down off the tank and walked over to Cassie's left side holding their weapons.

Camper came out of cover holding the charger from the splatted inkling on the catwalk with three of his crew members next to him. Camper smirked as he looked Cassie and her friends on the opposite side of the deck.

"You really believe you four can beat me in a turf battle, don't make me laugh, you may have the fossil on your side, but let's face it, the human is a sitting duck with that old bamboozler he's carrying. This is going to be too easy," said Camper arrogantly as he held up the charger.

Cassie and her friends got ready as they waited for Camper and his team to make a move. Cassie clenched her Hero shot as she stared at Camper watching his body language. Then all of a sudden Camper pulled out a splat bomb. He jumped back and lobbed it toward the group. Cassie jumped away from the splat bomb as well as the other three did. They all got behind the nearest cover to evade the blast.

Cassie opened fire on Camper and his three teammates squatted down to return fire on Cassie and her team. When Cassie and her team shot back the three inklings squid formed and got behind the nearest cover they could find. Marie was lining shots on Camper's gang while Cassie leaned behind cover as she had a roller and would be at a disadvantage at the moment. Blake was crouched down behind a crate, lining up shots at Camper and his crew at every given opportunity.

Unlike your typical turf war, each team has its own color, but in this case, each person had a different color. This made things a lot more difficult as the teammates could not utilize each others ink. This put both teams at a disadvantage and both Cassie and Camper could see that. After their small skirmish Camper had his guys huddle up. "You three need to shift your color to mine, so we can use the same ink, this isn't working and we need to get the upper hand on them, especially with the fossil on their team," said Camper. The three nodded and changed their tentacle color to red, the same color of Camper's.

On the other side of the deck, Cassie saw what Camper and his team were doing. "Camper's got the right idea, We all need to change our ink to the same color, that way we can rely on refilling our tanks and hiding in the ink. I think we should change our ink to lime-green since me and Marie have the same color ink," said Cassie.

"That's a good idea Cass, we would work better as a team if we carried the same colored ink," said Marie. "Cal, I need to change your color to the same as mine and Cass's," said Marie turning to Callie.

"O...ok, I'll try Marie, but what about Blake?" asked Callie as she concentrated on changing from magenta to lime-green.

"I've already thought about that, Blake come here," said Marie.

"Yeah, Marie?" asked Blake.

"Let me see your bamboozler," asked Marie as Blake handed her the weapon. "I hope this works," said Marie as she held the bamboozler and closed her eyes concentrating on the ink inside it. After a moment her eyes opened back up and she looked down inside the weapon and saw the ink changed from pale yellow to lime green. "It worked, I wasn't sure if it would or not," said Marie in relief and gave the bamboozler back to Blake.

Blake was surprised and looked over to see Callie and her tentacles were Lime-green and Black. "I didn't know who guys could change color like that, that's amazing," exclaimed an amazed Blake.

"Yeah, when we compete in turf wars the two teams are the same color so they can utilize each other's ink," explained Marie.

The group gathered up and were ready to take on Camper and his crew. All four of them could now shoot lime green ink allowing them to refill each other's tanks, except Blake of course who was still limited on how many shots he could use.

Camper and his gang came out of cover and readied their weapons. Camper still had his charger from the slain inkling. The other three had in possession a splattershot jr., a splattershot, and a splat roller.

Cassie still had her Hero shot while Blake had his old bamboozler. Callie had her hero roller and Marie with her hero charger. Both teams were ready for round 2 as they both had their own team color officially making it a true turf war.

* * *

Meanwhile on the main deck of the rig. Sergeant Maxie was embroiled with the scar-faced elite that was once her mentor. The sergeant rushed up at the elite with her knife drawn. She took multiple swings at the elite as her opponent dodged the attacks and blocked the last one with her knife. The two knives sparked when the made contact. The sergeant recoiled and jumped back from the failed swipes. The elite just smirked and pulled her knife up for an attack. She then decided to rush the sergeant and swung her knife vertically down toward the sergeant with strength.

The sergeant managed to block the swing with her left arm with the knife in hand pointed downward. The elite put more strength in her arm making her knife come closer down on the sergeant's face. The sergeant gritted her teeth as she was losing strength to the elite's and then after the struggle she attempted a leg sweep on the elite only for the elite to pull off and jump back out of range. "Hmpf, you're getting better sergeant, but we both know who's winning this fight," sneered the elite holding her knife out towards the sergeant.

The two soon walked in a circular pattern keeping their guards up watching one another.

"Don't let your overconfidence cloud your judgment, Major, I'm not the same octoling that was under your wing years ago, I've trained for this moment since then and I intend to defeat you," said the sergeant.

"We'll see about that old friend," said the elite as she broke off her movement and charged at the sergeant. She flipped her knife and grabbed it to deliver a finishing blow on the sergeant. The sergeant jumped up to do a flip and landed behind the elite to deliver her own knife swing. The elite reacted quickly and swung her arm with the knife around to counter the blade, like before causing them to spark again.

The two broke off and got back into fighting stances. They both locked on to each other waiting for the next move.

"You're losing your focus, Major, in a hurry to end this sparring match of ours? Worried I'll beat you?" asked the sergeant gripping her knife.

"Ha! You beating me?! I don't think so, I'm in a hurry to catch that human and to end an insignificant little twirp like you for butting into our operations," said the elite snidely before she took another charge at the octoling. "Now die!" she shouted.

She swung down the knife on the sergeant like before, except instead of the octoling evading the attack she blocked it and aimed her knife upward to attempt to counter the other one expecting the elite to catch her off guard like when she repeated her movement from before. Their arms met and both of them had their blades aimed at one another. It was now an arm-wrestling match to see who had the strength to stab the other. The elite was slowly winning as her knife was getting closer to the sergeant's face.

The elite smiled ready to do in her old friend's life as her blade got closer and closer. The sergeant was gritting her teeth, struggling to keep the knife away, but she bent her knees and downed her head getting ready to break free from the pin. She rapidly looked back up and locked on to the elite's conniving face and jerked forward as she broke free. The elite was utterly shocked by the sudden strength the octoling had and didn't have time to react.

The sergeant took the opportunity to deliver her own attack and thrusted her knife toward the stunned elite. Her knife meet one of the elite's tentacles cutting the bottom of it off as the elite broke out of her trance from the blow, The elite at the last second tried to evade the blade but it was too late. She screamed and the bottom of her tentacle dropped onto the deck. She held the bottom of her cut tentacle to stop the bleeding and bared her fangs hiding the pain she was in.

"GAAAHHH! YOU LITTLE..." yelled the elite holding her tentacle as she gave the octoling a death stare.

"Be lucky it was just your tentacle Major!" exclaimed the sergeant with ink dripping off her knife.

"Hmpf, you win this round sergeant but here, let me give you a parting gift!" shouted the lieutenant as she jumped up and lobbed another splat bomb at the sergeant.

The sergeant with quick reflexes jumped back out of range of the bomb. While it exploded the elite retreated and octo formed away from the main deck living her piece of tentacle behind. The sergeant landed and saw the major slither away, but it was too late for she had disappeared and didn't have time to catch her. "Hmpf, coward," sneered the sergeant when she heard footsteps behind her. She jolted and turned around with her knife up to one of her octoling soldiers.

"Whoa! It's me Sergeant!" shouted the octoling soldier.

The sergeant shook her head out snapping out of her combat trance and looked at the octoling.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Corporal!" shouted the irritated Sergeant.

"Sorry Sarge, but I'm here to report that most of the rebels had been killed while a few of them managed to get away. We also have wounded we need to get back to base, fortunately, no one was killed from our unit," said the octoling still startled from having the knife toward her neck.

"Good work, Corporal, call in the octozeppelin for pickup," said the sergeant placing her goggles back over eyes and putting her knife away.

The sergeant turned as the corporal looked back at her with concern. "Sarge, you ok?" asked the corporal.

"It's nothing," said the Sargeant hiding regret in her voice.

"It was the major, wasn't it?" asked the corporal seeing the cut piece of black tentacle laying on the deck.

"Just, gather up the troops!" shouted the sergeant when she turned toward the octoling baring her fangs.

"Yes, Ma'am!" said the frightened corporal.

The sergeant turned away toward the direction where the elite had retreated. She narrowed her eyes behind her goggles and rushed toward the right side of the rig in an attempt to catch the elite before she got away.

As she ran toward the pier where the rebel submarine was, she had thoughts running through her head. "I hope that human is ok and makes it back like he said he would. I owe him a lot of gratitude for saving me from that inkling with the roller a while ago," she thought to herself as her mind started to drift into other emotions she shook it off and continued to focus on pursuing the rebel leader.

She made it down the catwalk and looked over to the ledge to see the elite rushing over to the submarine with two other octoling rebels rushing over to talk to her.

She pulled her octo shot out and aimed at the group ready to take down the major once and for all.

* * *

Thirty minutes earlier on the rear deck of the Saltspray Rig, Cassie and her friends were getting ready to battle with Camper and his "team". Cassie and her team's ink color was lime-green while Camper's was red making it a true turf battle. The arena was comprised of the rear deck and surrounding platforms. Obstructions and cover littered parts of the deck such as crates, tanks, and barrels.

"You ready to get your squid butt kicked, Ross!" shouted Cassie holding up her hero shot.

"Bring It! I'm going to enjoy splatting you and that little posse of yours!" shouted Camper holding up his charger.

Both teams were ready to battle, waiting for someone to make the first move. The two teams stared down at each other watching each other's movement, after a while Camper gave a smirk and looked at butch, who then gave him a nod. Butch turned and nodded back, turning his attention back to Cassie and her team. Camper grunted and squid jumped in the air on a balcony behind them and readied his charger. Butch and the two other inklings fired at Cassie and her team while they dove for cover. The inkling with the roller squid formed and hid in his ink while the other sprayed in the middle of the deck before Cassie and her team could cover it giving them an advantage over the ink coverage.

"Oh, Carp! They're already starting to cover the turf. We need to start covering as well to even the playing field," said Cassie as she started covering the area around them.

"I'll get to higher ground like Camper did and try to keep them pinned down while you guys move up and remember there are no spawn pads! So be mindful and watch each other's backs!" reminded Marie as she squid jumped on a platform in the far corner of the arena.

"This isn't good! Marie what if one us..." said Callie in fear as she was cut off.

"Don't Cal, I think we'll all make it through this, especially with Blake on our team since he fought alongside gramps," said Marie over their radios.

"I think you're giving me too much credit, that was years ago and I haven't shot my bamboozler since then," commented Blake as he was taking shots from Camper.

"Blake! Hold on! I'm the only one who can get a shot on him from this distance," said Marie as she aimed down with her scope.

Butch and the inkling with the splattershot jr. pushed up when they saw the opportunity. They took shots at both Callie and Cassie as they squid formed and dove behind cover.

Cassie got behind a crate and Callie dove in her ink until they stopped. "I've only got my roller! What do I do?" asked Calling fretting over her disadvantage.

"Callie, focus on tracking the roller user, I'll worry about the shooters, make you way up and to the right far side to try and flank the roller user, he's hiding in the ink somewhere!" suggested Cassie as she turned back to her opponents and fired shots at them. They both squid formed and hid behind their cover again refilling their ink.

"Dang it! I need to get the drop on them, but how?" growled Cassie as she looked around. Her special was not activated yet and she wasn't carrying any splat bombs.

Callie was slithering from cover to cover avoiding detection in her squid form from the ink path she made with the roller. She stopped when she saw a hump in the red ink that was ahead of her and insinuated that it was the roller user. She turned back to her humanoid form and hunkered behind a crate with her roller ready. She pounced out of cover and swung down on the hump.

Eyes popped out from the hump and jettisoned out of the ink and landed further back to avoid the roller smash. "Shoot!" shouted Callie as she realized the roller user got away. The roller user bent down and picked their head up glaring at Callie. He swung his roller around and readied for an attack on Callie. Callie turned toward the roller user and got ready for any kind of attack he would counter with.

Meanwhile, Blake was hunkering behind a crate evading shots from Camper. Marie was shooting back at Camper keeping him pinned down as much as he could. Blake was unable to get a shot lined up on Camper. Blake had to make each of his shots count since he was limited and didn't carry an ink tank. He was getting frustrated and had to do something.

The squadmates were doing their best to move in on Camper and his team, while a figure was watching the turf war going on. The figure was Loppy with her cyan tentacles and eyes crouched down behind some equipment watching the battle between Camper and the agents. She looked around and spotted Blake hunkered down behind a crate on the other end of the deck. She went wide-eyed unsure how to make the human involved in a turf war carrying a weapon but it looked like he was in trouble.

Cassie moved up closer to Butch and the other shooter and inked the area around them. The two of them saw what she was doing and butch directed the splattershot jr. user to try and flank Cassie while he stayed and distracted her. The inkling nodded and dove into the ink out of sight and swam behind a pile of barrels. Butch stayed behind his cover and shot at Cassie when he had the opportunity.

Callie and the roller user were locked in a sparring match, swinging their rollers against each other trying to knock one or the other down. Callie was getting frustrated as she took a powerful roller swing against the inkling but to no avail, he squid jumped out of the way and landed behind Callie. He changed back and grinned at the vulnerable Callie and swung his roller on to Callie's back. She didn't have time to dodge it or counter it and she flew across the floor and landed on her stomach in pain from the impact.

Blake took the opportunity to move ahead to different cover and try and line a shot on Camper. He fired the bamboozler but missed with two more shots remaining. "dammit!" jeered Blake as he was getting irritated. "Ha! Fossil! Can't hit me with that bamboo shute of yours!" shouted Camper snidely. Blake just glared back at the inkling while Loppy watched from behind her cover contemplating how to help Blake.

The battle had reached a stalemate as both sides couldn't make any headway on winning the match. It seemed things were even and Camper and Cassie were determined to beat one another and prove who was the better turf war player.

* * *

Marina had returned to the studio, luckily Pearl was still asleep. She took the time to get on her laptop and look at her chatroom. She hadn't heard from her contact for a while and she typed in a message. She sent it and waited for a reply. It had been 5 minutes before she got a response. Marina opened the message and soon read it.

_Hello DJ_Hyperfresh._

_I'm sorry I haven't sent any more messages but I've had to stay out of sight for a while, I've almost compromised the mission and I soon worry that I will be found out if we keep this up. He may have to think about going into radio silence. I'm still trying to dig up why the octo rebels needed the human._

_Indigo_Agent._

Marina got done reading the message and typed in another to send.

_I understand Indigo_Agent, I haven't heard anything on the whereabouts of the subject. I'll keep in touch. Don't get cooked. DJ_Hyperfresh out._

Marina turned her laptop off and put it away. She heard footsteps behind and saw Pearl rubbing her eyes looking half asleep. "What's going on Rina?" asked Pearl as she yawned.

"Pearly, we've got less than an hour until the lobby opens. You need to get ready for the broadcast we're supposed to give," said Marina.

Pearl's eyes lit up as she realized that today was the day that the square would finally open. "Oh Shrimp!" shouted Pearl. "I need to get ready! Rina why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" questioned an annoyed Pearl crossing her arms as she glared at Marina.

"Well you did party hard last night while I went back to the studio and I know how you get when you don't get your beauty sleep," explained marina.

"Hmpf. still, you could've let me know something, gosh Rina!" exclaimed Pearl as she threw her arms up.

Marina chuckled and Pearl just rolled her eyes. She stormed off to get ready for the news broadcast and Marina got up to finish getting ready herself. She started to walk off as she looked back at her laptop on the table and then thought about Blake.

"I hope the squidbeak finds him soon, for all of our sakes," said marina as she gave a sigh.

Almost an hour later Marina and Pearl had sat down at their stations getting prepared for the square opening. The cameraman and studio crew got to their positions for the news broadcast. Pearl was sitting in her chair and Marina was standing behind her turntable. They both smiled and waved as the camera finally came on.

"Y'all know what time it is!" started Pearl giving gesture with her hand.

"It's Off the Hook coming at you LIVE from Inkopolis Square!" said Marina rubbing her turntable.

"Y'all know today is the day the square will finally open and the new Deca Tower will be the new spot for turf war players. As you can see the great zapfish has moved on top of the tower confirmin' that the square will be finally powered as well as the lobby," said Pearl.

"I can't wait to see the new turfers in action and the new arenas that will be posted here shortly," said Marina conserving her excitement.

"Speaking of new, I'm starting to see new tentacle styles on some of the turf war players, and not to mention new turf weapons that I've heard bout'," said Pearl.

"Yeah, I heard that Sheldon was going to sell new turf weapons in the new store he's opening here in the square," said marina.

"I wanna try out those new, I think he called them dualies, just imagine splatting your enemy with those things while doing cool poses and jumping up in a jet of ink, that would be so awesome," said Pearl giving another hand gesture.

"Well maybe you should compete sometime Pearly," said Marina.

"What! No way! I got better things to do than that, besides I would wipe the floor with those new turfers, don't want to send them back to their mommies crying about it," said Pearl snidely.

Marina shook her head and gave a sigh. "Oh, Pearly, you can be such a kidder," said Marina covering her mouth trying to cover her chuckle.

"Oh yeah Rina, I love to see you out there kicking squid butt!" said Pearl with an irritated look crossing her arms.

"Well, I've never been the one for confrontation, even if it is for fun, I'm a lover not a fighter," said Marina getting her composure back.

"Ha! That sounds like two topics that we can use for a future match, Lover Vs. Fighter, I'm going for the fighter," said Pearl as she punched the air.

"I guess that would make a good turf match, well I guess I'll go for Lover," said Marina as she blew a kiss at the camera.

"Well anyway, you squids ready!" shouted Pearl.

Outside the studio, the inklings were watching the broadcasting screen cheering and shouting, anxious for the tower to open and turf battles begin.

"Alright everyone, get ready in..." started Marina beginning the countdown.

"5...4...3...2...1!" shouted everyone in unison even Off the Hook.

The lobby finally opened and the great zapfish gave a glow with its whiskers sparking as the tower finally opened up. The inkling crowd gathered up in teams and awaited the coming matches.

"Alright, everyone! Here's today's first match," said Pearl as she pumped her arms up with her crown bouncing.

Outside the studio the inklings were waiting for the first match to be broadcasted but one inkling stood out to the side and watched the screen. She thought about what Marina had said and thought about Cassie. She had a gloomy look on her face and turned away heading to the tutorial area to practice. Part of her didn't care whether she would get better or not. At this point, her mind was divided into competing in turf battles or not. She slowly made her way to the tutorial area with her starter kit and her mind was clouded by other things not focusing on the square and tower opening.

* * *

Round 3 of the match had commenced as both sides pushed against one another to ink the most turf and defeat the other team. Cassie was still sitting behind her cover waiting for the two inklings to slip up. she was steadily spraying ink ahead of her adn tying to hit two of Camper's teammates. Cassie was hoping either Blake or Marie could get a shot on Camper as she focused on the other two inklings. The inkling with the splattershot jr. got frustrated. tired of sitting behind cover while Cassie was shooting at them. His impatience got the best of him and jumped and charged at Cassie blasting away with his weapon.

"You idiot!" yelled Butch.

"I'm gonna splat you squid!" shouted the inkling as he got in front of the crate Cassie was sitting behind. He hopped on the crate and looked down aiming his splattershot jr. only to see Cassie wasn't there but only a big puddle of ink. "What? Where is she?!" shouted the shocked but angered inkling.

"Dumb squid! You shouldn't have left your cover!" shouted a female voice.

"Huh?" said the inkling confused. He turned to the direction of the voice and saw Cassie aiming her Hero shot at him behind another crate.

"I knew I'd bait you thinking you could get the jump on me!" said Cassie as she shot the inkling. The inkling went wide-eyed and covered himself with his arms only to be splatted in a puddle of green ink.

"Dumbass!" shouted butch. "That's what that trigger-happy squid gets!" he continued.

"You're next!" yelled Cassie at Butch. Butch ducked back down with an expression of fear seeing the inkling getting wasted by the agent.

Callie was lying on the left rear corner of the deck. She struggled to get up from the hit she took from the inkling's roller. Her roller was laying in front of her. She crawled to grab it but was stopped by the roller using inkling when he stepped on her hand. Callie yelped and looked up to see in the grinning inkling. "Nice roller you got there, It'll make a fine addition to my collection," sneered the inkling.

"You're...not taking my roller...it was given to me by gramps," protested Callie jeering in pain.

"Well that's too bad for you then, but their's no sense in leaving a perfectly good roller here without an owner," said the inkling as we looked down on Callie raising his roller.

"No, please" pleaded Callie with tears starting to form.

"goodbye, squid," said the inkling with his roller raised.

Marie was horrified by Callie's situation. "Oh no, CALLIE!" screamed Marie as she lined a shot up on the roller packing inkling. She was soon shot in the shoulder by Camper and yelped as she flew back, dropping her Hero charger.

"Marie!" shouted Blake. He soon turned looked toward Callie being pinned by the inkling with his roller raised. "Oh crap! Callie, I'm coming!" shouted Blake as he ran out from cover toward Callie and the inkling. Camper took a shot at him but he dodged it and ran back to Callie and the inkling.

Callie closed her eyes as she knew this was it but all of a sudden the inkling's roller was blocked by Blake's bamboozler. "Huh?" responded Callie as she looked up and saw Blake shielding her with the bamboozler.

Blake struggled to keep the roller from coming down but gained some strength to knock it away with the inkling glaring back at him baring his fangs. "Callie, you ok?" asked Blake as he placed his hand out.

Callie stared at Blake with stars in her eyes. She was stuck in trance seeing the human she had a crush on, save her life. She took his hand a steadily stared at him as she got up.

"Intervening fossil!" shouted the agitated roller user.

Blake and Callie turned toward the inkling who had a malicious intent on his face. He swung his roller back down and grabbed the handle ready to roll down both Blake and Callie. "I'm going to splat the both of you!" shouted the inkling before as he made a move he exploded into a burst of ink. Blake and Callie were shocked but relieved wondering what happened. They both turned toward Marie with her charger aimed down toward where the inkling had got splat concluding she done the inkling in.

"You two alright?" asked Marie.

"We're fine Marie, thank you!" said Blake.

"Thank you for protecting my cuz, looks like she's got a knight in shining armor," said Marie as she smirked at Callie.

"Oooohhh...Marie! Stop it!" shouted Callie as she was beet red.

As the two of them were distracted, Camper looked down seeing an opportunity to shoot the human that he despised. He aimed his charger down pointing it at Blake. He pressurized the charger to its maximum. The charger hummed and the tank on the back of it glowed. After that, he took the shot with a powerful stream on ink traveling down at its target.

In the meantime, Cassie was evading Butch's shots and ducking from cover to cover trying to get closer to Butch. Butch was frantically trying to shoot Cassie hoping that he would hit her or getaway.

"Stand still squid!" shouted the panicking Butch.

"Make me!" shouted back Cassie.

The area surrounding Butch was covered in Cassie's green ink. During they're little shootout, Butch didn't pay attention to his surroundings assuming Cassie couldn't hit him. Instead, she wasn't trying to shoot him but instead the floor around him. She wanted to trick him and use the ink to gain the element of surprise and deceive the inkling. As soon as she got behind cover again she squid formed and swam through the ink.

"Come out! So I can splat you!" shouted Butch as he looked around watching the crates to see where Cassie would pop out from.

He was paying attention to the crates but not the ink that Cassie was swimming through. She got behind Butch and transformed back, swinging her weapon against his head before he could turn and flung him forward into her ink. This weakened him and he couldn't move from the opposing ink. He turned to look up and saw Cassie glaring at him with her Hero shot aimed at him. He bared his fangs and attempted to grab his splattershot, but was splatted before he pulled the trigger.

Cassie gave a sigh and turned back and spotted Blake helping Callie up. She saw Marie and Blake exchange gratitude before Callie got flustered after what Marie had said to her. Cassie smiled after seeing Callie and focused back on the match. "Wait...where's Camper? Did Blake or Marie get him?" she asked herself before she looked up toward the balcony where Camper was perched and saw him aim the charger at Blake.

"Blake! Look Out!" shouted Cassie as she ran toward the two.

But it was too late she heard the charger shot and saw the ink stream headed for Blake.


	35. Arc 2 Chapter 20

**Arc 2 Chapter 20**

The major slithered down the catwalk from the battle she had with the sergeant with part of her tentacle cut off. She was growling in pain and changed back when she reached the bottom of the stairs running to the pier. She walked over to the submarine clutching her tentacle and gritting her teeth. Two octolings spotted her and rushed over to try and help her but she shrugged them with a glare.

"Major! What happened!" exclaimed one of the octolings.

"Never mind that! Get the sub ready now! We're leaving!" shouted the angered elite still covering her tentacle.

"But ma'am, what about the others?!" asked the other octoling.

"They've all been killed! Now get out of the way or I'll throw into the water!" shouted the elite.

The octoling jumped back and nodded allowing the elite to get by then all of a sudden an ink shot splattered one of the octolings while the other had frozen, unsure what had happened until she turned her head to the catwalk above them.

The elite turned her head and saw that it was the sergeant aiming her octoshot at them. "She doesn't give up does she!" said the elite barring her teeth.

An octoling male popped out of the hatch of the sub and looked at the major. "Ma'am the sub is ready," said the octoling.

"Good! Let's get back to Octo Canyon now!" shouted the elite as she dropped down in the hatch followed by the other octoling that was on the pier. The hatch closed and sub dove down into the water out of sight.

"Oh no you don't, you're not getting away that easily," said the sergeant.

She stood back up from crouching and made her way back to the main deck to meet up with her unit. Once she got there the octoling had already called the octozeppelin to come and pick them up. "Ma'am, the octozeppelin will be here shortly," explained the octoling.

"Call in the octobombers to hunt down that submarine before it reaches Octo Canyon, we can't let them get away!" ordered the sergeant.

"Yes, Ma'am," said the octoling as she got on the radio.

10 minutes later the sub surfaced and the hatch came open revealing the elite looking back at the Saltspray rig, her tentacle had healed and she narrowed her eyes. "This isn't over Maxie, I will get payback and the octo rebels will take over Octo Valley that you and your false leader banished us to. Mark my words old friend, your time is coming," jeered the elite as the driver of the sub was getting her attention.

"Ma'am, we have intercepted that octobombers are heading our way!" said the driver as the elite looked around and saw three flying objects heading toward them. As they got close the elite could make out that it was in fact the octobombers. They were getting closer and spotted the sub and dove down.

"Get us back down again!" yelled the elite to the driver.

"Y...Y...Yes Ma'am!" exclaimed the driver as the elite closed the hatch and the sub slowing dropped back down.

When the octobombers got over where the sub was they dropped depth charges down below them. The sub was evading the blasts and diving down deeper out of range from the octobombers. The explosions were rocking the sub around and they had almost lost control of it. The driver was struggling to keep straight as a depth charge came close to hitting them.

"Get us outta here private!" shouted the elite at the driver.

"I'm trying!" exclaimed the driver.

The octobombers dropped the charges over the sub until they ran out. "Returning to base," said one of the octobombers in a deep gargled voice.

The octobombers left and the octozeppelin was slowly approaching the rig to pick up the octoling task force that assaulted the rig and stopped the octo rebels from apprehending Blake.

"Ma'am the octobombers are heading back to base, we're unsure though if the sub was destroyed," reported the octoling.

"Knowing her, I'm sure they survived, but at least they didn't get the human back to octo canyon," said the sergeant.

"Speaking of human, where is it?" asked the octoling.

"It's name is Blake, and he saved my life after I freed him from the rebels," said the sergeant.

"He...saved your life, that was pretty noble of it, um...him I mean," complimented the octoling.

"yeah...it was, even knowing that ink didn't have much effect on him, I..." said the sergeant as she panned off for a moment.

"Sarge, are you ok?" asked the concerned octoling seeing her sergeant stuck in thought.

"Huh? It's nothing corporal, prepare to board the octozeppelin, I hope Blake returns like he said he would, I just hope the human can be trusted unlike the squids," said the sergeant.

"Ma'am!" directed the corporal as she pointed behind the sergeant. The sergeant turned and saw a group of inklings and saw one figure that waved and said "Hey sergeant, I'm back,"

* * *

Time seemed to freeze as a shot could be heard across the rear deck of the rig. A splatter could be seen flying in the air but it was not only red ink but red blood too. Blake fell down on his back in front of Callie. Callie had froze, witnessing what had happened. Her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth to block her scream. Blake was on the deck covering his wound and jeering in pain. He was shot in the upper right side of his chest, the ink had covered the area but Blake can spot blood as well.

"BLAKE!" shouted all three girls as they saw Blake get shot by Camper's charger. Marie jumped down and rushed to Blake and Callie as well as Cassie still keeping guard toward Camper.

Blake was coughing up blood and Callie was resting his head on her arm trying to keep from crying. Marie kneeled down and examined Blake's wound. Cassie watched Blake and was unsure how to react seeing Camper shoot a human and the last known human at that.

Loppy, the cyan tentacled inkling was hiding behind a crate looking at the group and was horrified by Blake getting shot by Camper. She covered her mouth and hunkered back behind the crate and sobbed. "Oh no, Blake, Camper how could you," said Loppy as she covered her eyes.

"Blake! hang in there!" shouted Callie panicking.

"Uuuhh...Callie, is that you?" asked Blake still coughing.

"Blake hold on, I'm going to try and treat you," said Marie as she started to pull out something to stop the bleeding.

Just then Camper hopped down holding his charger down smiling at the group. "Looks like a got the fossil, not sure if he's going to make it though, I don't think he can heal up as fast as we can," sneered Camper.

"Camper you bastard!" shouted Cassie as she pulled the trigger but nothing came out. She then noticed she was out of ink from her last battle with butch and the other inkling.

"What? forgot to refill your tank, an experienced turf player like you seems to be slipping," said Camper in a smug tone.

Marie went to grab her charger but Camper shot her hero charger away. "Don't even try it!" shouted Camper as he aimed at the three. "Seems like I win the turf match, This is too easy, once I splat you three I'll finish off the fossil. One shot to the head outta do it, then he can join the rest of his species," said Camper.

Callie's anger had grown, seeing an inkling shoot and attempt to kill a human and one she had deep feelings for. She clenched her fist and stood up glaring at Camper. Camper had an indifferent look on his face raising an eyebrow wondering what the squid sister was about to do.

"WHAT HAS HE EVER DONE TO YOU FOR YOU WANTING TO KILL HIM! HE'S THE LAST OF HIS KIND! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!" yelled Callie in anger. Marie was utterly shocked by seeing Callie like this as well as Cassie.

"What's it matter! I don't know what the octo rebels planned on doing with him! He's just a fossil! All I know is they paid me to get him and bring him to them! What do I care what happens to him!" shouted Camper.

"you...you...YOU SAY YOUR SORRY!" yelled Callie as Marie and Cassie drew a blank face and facepalmed seeing that Callie was still herself even in the dire situation they were in and were just flabbergasted by the squid sister's reaction.

"hmpf, really? like I would apologize for shooting that fossil, I don't know what the big deal is about that human anyway. It should be like that fossil back at the institute, DEAD!" said Camper.

The group was getting angrier and angrier seeing Camper having no care in the world about Blake. "Well let's end this shall we," said Camper as he held up the charger, aiming it at Cassie and the rest until all of a sudden Camper was knocked back by a little burst of cyan ink. He was on his back with the charger knocked away. He attempted to sit up and see who struck him but could only make out the blurred image of the assailant rasing their inkbrush at him. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as his head fell back down and went unconscious.

The assailant was none other than Loppy. She felt she had to do something instead of staying hidden. Seeing Camper's demeanor towards Blake made Loppy angry like the rest of them. So she took action and saw Camper was focused on the group of inklings and Blake. She turned back to Blake and them after swinging at Camper with her ink brush and walked over.

"Who are you?" asked Callie in relief.

"Wait, I recognize you from the pier when Camper and them were about to leave the rig," said Cassie.

"My name's Loppy, I couldn't let Camper splat you guys after seeing him shoot Blake," explained Loppy.

"Well, we are very thankful you intervened like you did," said a grateful Marie.

Blake moaned and everyone focused back on Blake. "Blake? His he going to be ok?" asked a concerned Loppy.

"Callie I need you to press against Blake's wound, I know how squeamish you are about this, but you gotta do it, while I'll try to patch his wound," said Marie.

Callie nodded and meekly placed her hand over Blake, the blood had a warm sensation to it, unlike the cool ink. She was starting to get nauseated and turned her head away.

Marie wrapped up Blake and signaled Callie to let go. Blake opened his eyes again and saw everyone including Loppy. "Loppy? What are you doing here?" asked Blake weakly trying to sit up.

"I managed to get away from Camper and his gang and hid. I saw one of the squidbeak agents run past my hiding spot and followed her and then I saw you. I was worried about you seeing Camper there too," said Loppy.

Blake gave her a smile before he coughed and Loppy smiled back. She looked back at Callie who was looking at her with question. "So, I guess you're his girlfriend?" asked Loppy.

Callie just blushed and bit her lip not sure how to answer her. "Look, let's focus on getting Blake some help," said Marie trying to ease the tension and change the subject.

"Yeah, let's get out of here, but let's also not forget Camper," said Cassie. She walked over and flipped him on his back and cuffed his hands with a large zip tie. She lifted him up still dazed from the hit Loppy gave him and he stumbled as Cassie lead him back to the group.

Callie helped Blake up who was starting to get his energy back. Marie placed her arm around Blake as well as Callie to help him walk. Loppy followed behind them with Cassie leading with Camper being guided beside her. They left the rear deck and made their way back to the main deck to the front.

* * *

The sergeant and the corporal stared at the group. The sergeant soon shook her head and walked over to the group of inklings and then looked at Blake. She noticed he was injured and looked at Callie and Marie with an explanation. "What happened?!" exclaimed the octoling.

"We got embroiled in a turf war with Camper, He's the one that brought Blake here to exchange him to the octo rebels, He shot Blake, but we've apprehended him," explained Cassie to the disgruntled octoling.

"Look! Blake needs medical help! Is there any way you can get us back to Inkopolis?" asked Marie still holding onto Blake.

The sergeant downed her head and then looked at Callie with an irritated look. "You were supposed to make sure nothing happened to him, squid!" shouted the sergeant agitated after Callie gave her word that she would make sure nothing happened to Blake.

"I'm sorry! It just happened! I...I...couldn't protect Blake! I..." explained Callie as she started to cry.

"That's enough! I don't appreciate anyone making my cousin cry! She did the best she could! We all did! You don't think we wanted Blake to stay out of harm's way?!" shouted an angered Marie defending her cousin as she let go of Blake facing the octoling.

The octoling was startled and backed up from Marie's outburst, even her goggles jumped up and came back down covering her eyes again. The sergeant decided to ease off as the squid sister glared her down.

"(sigh) My...apologizes...It's just I didn't want anything to happen to the hu, um Blake. I was hoping to get him back our base unscathed but things could've gone worse I suppose. I'm glad you treated him and looked out for him like you said you would. Now, let's get on the octozeppelin and I'll have my medic treat him before we get back into inkling territory," said the sergeant resolving her frustration.

Marie's anger also passed and Callie had stopped crying. "Callie you can let go now, I think I can walk on my own," asked Blake as Callie looked at him and blushed.

"Oh, sorry, It's just I wanted to make sure you could get around after getting hit like that," said Callie as she meekly let go of Blake before rubbing her arm.

"It's ok Callie, I know the sergeant was hard on you but you tried your best and things could've been worse if you guys didn't treat me, I owe you and Marie a lot and you guys have been the greatest friends or should I say family I've had. You guys took me in and rescued me from Camper and the octo rebels. You guys looked out for me like a family would, your grandfather looked out for me back during the great turf war and I know you guys would too," said Blake looking at Callie giving her a comforting smile.

"Thanks, Blake, that means a lot you saying that me and Marie see you like family too and gramps looks up to you," said Callie getting her composure back as she smiled at Blake. Callie then turned her head and thoughts of how she wanted to let Blake know how she felt filled her mind. She was conflicting with herself and Blake could see it. Eventually, they won over and Callie turned back to Blake.

"Blake, I need to tell you something. (sigh) Ever since I met you I've had feelings for you and I wanted you to know that I..." said Callie as she was cut off by Marie placing her hand on her shoulder. Marie looked at her with a reassuring look and gave a nod.

"Callie, maybe you need to have this talk with Blake at a better time. We need to get back to Inkopolis and Blake needs to be treated," said Marie giving her cousin a half-smile.

Callie nodded and gave another sigh. "You're...right Marie, Let's get back. Gramps is probably worried sick about us," said Callie.

"I'm sure he's worried about his fishing boat too, speaking of which we gotta get it back to the wharf," said Marie.

"Don't worry Marie, I'll take the boat back with Camper," said Cassie.

"You sure, can you handle him on the trip?" asked Marie.

"Sure, If he gives me any guff, I'll just knock the crap out of him, I'll have more trouble struggling to fight the urge to throw him out of the boat," said Cassie.

Marie chuckled as she looked back at Cassie. "I would suggest you not tempt it, he's got a lot to answer to," said Marie.

Cassie grabbed Camper who was still dazed and they headed to the small pier where the fishing boat was. Marie, Callie, and Blake were preparing to enter the octozepplin. A ladder was dropped down since Blake could not form and jump onboard. The sergeant watched the conversation between Callie and Blake a moment again and conflicting thoughts were running through her head. She decided to take the ladder and follow up behind Callie who was behind Blake who was behind Marie going up. Loppy then was finally the last one up right behind the corporal and sergeant being the other octolings from the unit had done jumped onboard the flying craft.

Everyone got ready for the voyage as the octozeppelin took off from the Saltspray Rig and headed toward Inkopolis. The inklings stayed to themselves with Blake and the octolings grouped together with many of them staring at them especially Blake. Seeing a living human was absolutely amazing to them and they were anxious what to learn once they got the human back to Octo Valley. A medic soon treated Blake to the best of her abilities and was fascinated by the human's anatomy. Before the medic patched him up she took a blood sample and placed it into her pack and walked away.

The voyage remained quiet for a while and there was some tension in the air being the inklings and octolings were enemies for nearly a century even though there was a peace treaty in effect. Blake started recuperating and held his wound as he looked around and back toward the octolings. He felt uneasy since he fought the octolings during the great turf war and resolved his feelings being they did help him and his friends out.

* * *

Cassie and Camper left the pier at the Saltspray Rig and were headed back to Inkopolis. Cassie knew the ride back to the wharf was going to be rough especially with Camper onboard. Camper was moaning getting out of his stupor. He shook his head and realized where he was, He looked around and then spotted Cassie steering the boat. He glared at her and she glared back. Camper growled at the predicament he was in and moved his hands around realizing he was bound.

"Don't even try anything!" shouted Cassie aiming her hero shot at him while still steering the boat.

"Hmpf, I guess I was finally beaten, (sigh) congratulations twerp," said Camper with a smug tone

Cassie ignored him and went back to focus on driving the boat. A smirk grew on Camper's face and he slowly stood up. "You remember the good ole' days when we were dating, and all the times I said how pretty you are," said Camper sucking up.

"Sweet talk will get you nowhere, now sit your butt down before I knock you outta the boat," demanded Cassie.

"Oh come on, I know you, Cassie, you wouldn't do that to your ex-boyfriend. Remember all the good times we...WAAHHH!" said Camper as a wave hit the boat knocking him back over the front of the boat. Camper was dangling over the side of the bow and was coming close to falling out. Camper was panicking as the water was hitting his face.

"PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!" screamed Camper. Cassie rolled her eyes and grabbed Camper and flung him back on the boat as he laid on the bottom of the boat glaring at Cassie.

"Y...You did that on purpose!" shouted an angry Camper.

"I warned you to sit your butt down, next time I won't be so hospitable," said Cassie glaring back at him.

"Well don't expect a thank you," sneered Camper as he turned away.

A slight grin appeared on Cassie's face and they were only 10 minutes out from the wharf. The rest of the trip Camper remained quiet and Cassie spotted Cuttlefish on the dock waving at her. As they approached the wharf, Cassie docked the boat and pulled Camper up. "Alright let''s go!" she ordered as she shoved Camper out of the boat. Cuttlefish walked over and greeted Cassie.

"So what all happened Lass, did you find the Bucko?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Yeah Blake's ok, he's with Callie and Marie, they hopped a ride with the octolings," explained Cassie.

"Octolings?" asked a confused Cuttlefish.

"It's a long story, I'm sure your granddaughters will give you the details," said Cassie.

Cuttlefish peered over toward Camper who had a displeased look on his face. "Who's this?" asked Cuttlefish.

"His name's Camper, he's the one that abducted Blake, he and his gang were working with the octo rebels, we stopped them before Blake was taken to Octo canyon," explained Cassie.

"What!? Why I should throw off this pier right now and..." shouted Cuttlefih waving his cane but was cut off by Cassie.

"Captain, he's not worth it, We'll let the authorities deal with him after they hear that he was the one that kidnapped and tortured Cleo," said Cassie.

"Well, good job lass and to all of you for stopping Camper and these octo rebels. Let's head back to my place and wait for my grandsquids," said Cuttlefish.

"Alright Captain let me call the police and let them handle Camper, I can see the zeppelin entering the coastline," said Cassie as she pointed to the octozeppelin.

"Woah, That's a big balloon them octarians have, seems like they're always coming up with new gadgets, Well I can't wait to see the lad again and my grandsquids, I'm going to head back, I'll see you lass," said Cuttlefish as he started to walk off.

"Ok, Captain, I'll head that direction once the police get here to take the troublemaker," said Cassie as Camper just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Onboard the octozeppelin they were 15 minutes out from the coastline of Inkopolis. Between now and after they left the Saltspray Rig many of the crew and the inklings remained quiet. Blake was sitting next to Callie with Marie beside her. He looked at Callie who then turned to look at him. She had placed her hand on his as she smiled. He hinted around what Callie wanted to talk to him about and wasn't ready to respond to what feelings she had for him. He was conflicted with himself, he didn't want to put Callie in an uncomfortable situation or hurt her feelings in any way after what they've been through. He had his head down and turned back to Callie with a fake smile trying to reassure the squid sister.

The sergeant on most of the trip just stared at Blake and Callie. Thoughts were racing through her as she slouched over and removed her goggles to rub her eyes. She was exhausted and frustrated that the major got away and that Blake had been mortally wounded. After a minute the corporal walked over to her, seeing she was not herself.

"Sarge, you ok?" she asked.

"I'm fine, what did you want?" responded the sergeant.

"Ma'am we need to talk to the human before we reach Inkopolis," said the corporal.

"His name's Blake and I'll walk over and pull him aside," said the sergeant as she got and made her way over to Blake.

Blake spotted the octoling approaching him and Callie turned and looked to. "Hey, Blake...I need a word with you," said the sergeant.

Callie had a look of concern as well as Marie seeing the octoling. Blake gave them a reassuring look and got up to follow the octoling.

The two of them headed to the far side of the bay to discuss plans before they reached Inkopolis. "Ok, what did you wanna discuss?" asked Blake.

"I want you to come back to Octo Valley with me, I've been ordered to ensure your safety and as long as we know the octo rebels and their leader are still at large then you'll remain a target. Don't worry you'll be placed in comfortable surroundings but have limited freedom. I may talk to my lieutenant about seeing if your friends can visit you, but no promises," explained the Sergeant.

Blake was almost speechless and didn't want to hear what the sergeant had just said. "What? You mean to tell me that if I go with you then I'll be coraled like an animal and that I may never get to see my friends," said a stunned Blake.

"Don't think of it like that, We would never treat you like an animal, It's just you are the last of your kind and we can't risk something happening to you," explained the sergeant.

"So, more like a reserve then, yeah that makes it sound more appealing," said Blake starting to get frustrated.

"Look! I'm to follow orders! Now I'm telling you! You are to come back with me to the octoling base for questioning and examination," ordered the sergeant who was getting stern.

Just then Callie and Marie walked over to the two after seeing the octoling's tone was getting angered. "M...Ma'am, I don't mean to interrupt but if I heard correctly you say Blake had to go with you back to Octo Valley?" asked Callie who was deeply concerned.

"Yeah, that's what I heard also and that we may not get to see Blake," said Marie concerned like her cousin.

"Look you two, this is none of your concern, he will come back to Octo Valley even if I have to bind him to do so," said the octoling.

"Please don't take Blake! He's like family to us! We would heartbroken if he never got to see him again, our gramps would be very upset to hear the octarians took Blake away! Please don't make him go!" pleaded Callie with a saddened expression.

"Please let Blake come back to Inkopolis is there any way we can reach a compromise?" asked Marie.

After a moment the sergeant looked at the three and then shook her head. "(deep sigh) I can't believe I'm considering this, but...fine, Blake doesn't have to go back to Octo Valley BUT! This doesn't mean he'll be out of my reach," said the sergeant. She started to dig through her pack as the three looked at her with curiosity. She pulled out an octopus-shaped device with a button on it. She placed it into Blake's hand as he raised an eyebrow.

"It's a communicator, so we can stay in touch and track your every movement, sorry but I can't just let you go without knowing something, be grateful," said the octoling.

"I really appreciate you letting me go sergeant, but is this necessary?" asked Blake.

"I don't think it's necessary for me to let you go, but I'm willing to, only because it seems the squids have gotten really attached to you and you didn't die back at the rig, consider the communicator a gift," said the sergeant slipping her goggles back on.

"YAAAYYY! Blake's coming back with us!" shouted an excited Callie as she gave Blake a tight hug.

"C...Callie my wound! You're...hurting me!" jeered Blake in pain.

"I'm sorry Blake!" exclaimed Callie pulling off. Marie chuckled and the sergeant just downed her head and shook it. "Squids" is all she said.

The octozeppelin was over the coastline and had stopped as the octolings didn't want to go any further because of the treaty rules. The bay opened and the ladder was let down. Loppy who had remained quiet during the trip only watching the events between Blake, Callie and the sergeant on the craft as she decided to squid jump out of the bay and on the ground. Blake and the squid sisters climbed down the ladder. The sergeant looked down at the group. "Remember! If their's any trouble! Use the communicator!" shouted the sergeant as the octozeppelin took off back to Octo Valley.

Blake nodded as the inklings watch the octozeppelin leave for the valley.

The group looked at each other and then back to Loppy who had her hands behind her back kicking at the dirt. She looked at the group and then focused on Blake.

"Blake, I...wanna apologize," said Loppy.

"For What?" asked a confused Blake.

"I'd wished that I'd done something a lot sooner, I didn't realize how big of a jerk Camper was," said Loppy rubbing her arm.

"Loppy it's ok, you got me away from him back at the Saltspray Rig and even knew you'd put yourself in danger doing it, I appreciate it," said Blake giving her a smile.

"Really? But does this mean I'm going to jail for helping Camper?" asked Loppy with sad eyes turning toward Marie.

Blake gave Marie a look of remorse and she looked back at the inkling. "(Sigh) No...it doesn't. As far as I know your off the hook, you put yourself in danger for our friend, and I think that earns you a pass," said Marie giving her a half-smile.

"Wow, thank you, and Blake... I enjoyed our little time together alone back on the rig," said Loppy giving Blake a mischievous look before she squid formed and slithered away.

Blake looked back at Callie nervously. Callie had a displeased look on her red face. "Time together alone!...what's that supposed to mean!?" exclaimed a flustered Callie with her hands on her hips.

"Callie it's not what you think! Nothing happened I swear!" exclaimed Blake waving his hands nervously.

Marie laughed as she held her stomach crouching down as not to fall. Callie continued grilling Blake as he defended himself from the angry squid girl. After a while, Marie wiped the tears from her eyes and Callie and Blake soon resolved after Callie believed what Blake had said. "Alright you two, let's get back to Inkopolis and report back to gramps about everything that's happened, I just hope Cassie made it back with the boat or we'll never hear the end of it," said Marie.

Callie grabbed Blake's hand and looked at him. "I wanna continue our talk when we get the chance Blake, but let's just get back to gramps and enjoy the rest of our peaceful evening," said Callie.

"I'm down with that, I just hope Cuttlefish wasn't too worried about me," said Blake as the three of them walked to the city.


	36. Arc 2 Chapter 21

**Arc 2 Chapter 21**

For hours Izzy had been practicing in the tutorial area for the turf war games. She had gotten better and better until she got tired of all the training and decided to head to Crusty Sean's new food truck. A figure was standing behind a few meters and watched her practice for sometime twirling their dualies. Izzy turned back toward the exit when the figure cleared their throat to get her attention.

Izzy turned her head and saw an inkling boy looking at her with a smile as he twirled his dualies. He had green short spikey tentacles, it was a new style that the inkling males were donning. His eyes were green to match his tentacle color and wore a black designer T-shirt with grey shorts. He also wore black thin pants underneath his shorts and on his feet were black and bright yellow tennis shoes.

"oh, hey," said Izzy meekly.

"What's a squid like you doing here?" asked the inkling boy.

"I was just practicing trying to get the hang of shooting my Splattershot jr. I'm new and came to Inkopolis weeks ago wanting to compete in the turf wars," said Izzy.

"Really? I've been in Inkopolis for almost a year, I'm a rank B+. My name's Flash by the way. It's nice to meet you, umm..." said Flash as he trailed off.

"Izzy, Izzy Beaks. It's nice to meet you too, Flash. Wow Rank B+, I like your dualies," said Izzy.

"Izzy huh...That's a nice name, don't worry, as soon as you start playing turf wars you'll get the hang of it and start climbing up the ranks as I did," said Flash confidently.

"You think so, I'm still trying to the hang of shooting my Splattershot Jr. but I'm having a hard time hitting targets," said Izzy.

"The splattershot Jr. is an entry weapon. Their range is limited and the recoil is a little uncontrollable. You gotta have a firm grip on the gun and focus on hitting the target. Here let me show you." said Flash. He walked up to Izzy and showed her how to posture her arms to grip the ink weapon. He got behind her and propped up against her to aim down the range. Izzy blushed a little when Flash had a hold of her arms and was helping her with the starter weapon.

"Like this," said Flash.

"Oh, okay, um..." said Izzy nervously.

"Don't be nervous, I know it's your first time and all, you'll get the hang of eventually," said Flash as he let go of Izzy. "Now, pull the trigger and keep a firm grip," advised Flash.

"Okay, well...here it goes," said Izzy as she pulled the trigger and stared down at the squid shaped target.

The weapon went in a burst of fire and all three shots hit their target. "Wow! Did you see that?!" shouted Izzy who was impressed that she hit her target.

"Told ya, you could do it," said Flash giving Izzy a thumbs up.

"Well, I could've done it without your help," said Izzy.

"It's no problem, just keep practicing and you'll get better," said Flash.

"I wish my friend Cassie was here though," said Izzy as she turned her head. "She had to go do something important," continued Izzy.

"I'm sure she had her reasons, It'll be alright," said Flash trying to console Izzy.

"Well, I was hoping she could train me before I started competing, she's an experienced turf player, I was hoping she'd give me pointers and moral support," said Izzy.

"hey! I can keep training you, I might not be the most experienced turf war player around but I've won plenty of matches to know how to play and beat the opposing team, c'mon let's keep training and soon you'll get better at it," said Flash as he pumped his fist in the air.

"Thanks, Flash!" said a grateful Izzy giving a blush.

"As I said, it's no trouble at all," said Flash as he heard Izzy's stomach growl.

Izzy blushed and held her stomach. "I was gonna go to Crusty Sean's for lunch, do you wanna come Flash?" asked Izzy.

"Sure, I'll go," said Flash as he gave her a smile.

The two of them left and headed back to the square to grab a bite to eat before Flash could train Izzy some more.

* * *

Blake and the squid sisters were back at Cuttlefish's going over all the events that had transpired on the Saltspray Rig to Cuttlefish. Cassie had given a yawn standing near Cuttlefish exhausted from the day and it was getting later as the sun was going down. "Well, I'm turning in for the night," said Cassie as she headed for the door.

"Well have a good night Cass," said Marie as Cassie gave a wave and walked out the door.

Callie was standing real close to Blake as their arms were almost touching.

"Well it sounds like it's been an eventful day, agents, I'm just glad no one was hurt or killed, and Bucko is back among us," said Cuttlefish in joy.

"Yeah, me too gramps, I think especially Callie," smirked Marie who saw Callie starting to blush by her comment.

"Huh? what are talking about?" asked Cuttlefish who was caught in the confusion.

"It's nothing gramps, me and Cal are going to have to head back ourselves, we gotta get ready to make that trip to the county, tomorrow," said Marie.

"Well you two have fun and tell everyone I said howdy," said Cuttlefish.

"Yeah, I'm getting tired myself, I guess I'm going to retire in Cuttlefish's bedroom," said Blake as he yawned and stretched. "See you guys when you get back, goodnight," said Blake as he started to walk away.

"Wait, Blake! um how about you come and stay over at the studio with us," suggested Callie with a grin.

"Um, are you sure about that?" asked Blake.

Yeah, the plaza is empty, you don't have to worry about being spotted by anyone," said Callie.

"I don't know, Captain are you ok with it?" asked Blake.

"I don't see no problem with it, Bucko, go ahead," said Cuttlefish.

"Um, ok then, let's go," said Blake.

"Cal, I should've known you'd put in for Blake to stay over at the studio eventually," said Marie with a smirk.

"I thought he might like to see the studio and learn about us being pop singers, I'm sure he'd like to see some different scenery for a change, Marie," said Callie.

"Cal, I'm sure he's seen plenty of scenery, just not on good terms though, but I also know you wanna let him know how you feel too," said Marie with a smile.

The three of them left Cuttlefish's and headed back to the plaza through the tunnel. When they reached the empty plaza they walked up the ramp to the studio. The three walk in and Marie turns on the lights. Blake looks around the studio though much of the equipment had been taken out. Blake felt like he had been there before but couldn't place it. Marie and Callie turn to Blake who was stuck in thought.

"Blake? What's the matter?" asked Callie.

"What? oh, it's nothing," said Blake after he snapped out of it. "It's just this place seems familiar to me, but I'm not sure why," continued Blake.

"Hmm, this is the first time you've been inside the studio, I don't see why it would be familiar to you," said Marie.

"I don't know either, Marie, maybe It'll come back to me," said Blake.

"Hey! let's tell Blake about us being pop singers back when we were giving the inkopolis news and sponsoring the splatfests," suggested Callie excitedly.

"Cuttlefish was saying something about you guys being singers a couple of weeks ago when he was talking about you guys," said Blake.

"Yeah! We were the Squid Sisters! We were the biggest pop idols in all of Inkopolis until they decided to replace us," said Callie going from excited to depressed.

"Why would they wanna replace you guys?" asked Blake.

"(sigh) they just wanted fresh new talent," said Marie in indifferent tone as she crossed her arms.

"Well, I think you guys are great! I'd love to hear you sing," said Blake.

"Aww, that means a lot, Blake. Marie how about we sing one of our songs real quick before we head to bed," asked Callie anxiously.

"Cal, I'm too tired to sing and it's getting late, how about another time," said Marie as she started to yawn.

"Oh, ok then, but you'll love our singing Blake," said Callie.

"Well let's head to bed y'all, I'm going to get changed and Blake, we have a spare room down the hall you can sleep in. me and Cal will be across the hall if you need anything," said Marie.

"Alright, I appreciate you two letting me stay the night here," said Blake as he started to walk off.

"You're welcome Blake and goodnight," said Callie and Marie just rolled her eyes.

Callie and Marie soon retired and changed into their PJs and climbed into bed in their room across from Blake's. The three of them soon fell asleep drained from the events that transpired. But shortly after Callie couldn't sleep, she rolled over and faced Marie who was asleep. "M...Marie?" asked Callie trying to wake her cousin.

"Mmmm...what is it Cal? I'm trying to sleep," said Marie half asleep.

"I've been thinking about what I should say to Blake, what if...he doesn't accept my feelings, I mean he sees us as family after all and..." said Callie.

"Callie, all you can do is let him know how you feel, you can't expect him to accept your feelings or not," said Marie.

"I know, It's just..." continued Callie.

"Cal, don't let it get to you, if he doesn't then you two can still be friends or family, it's not the end of the world if he doesn't accept your feelings," said Marie as she rolled over facing away from Callie.

"You're right Marie, I shouldn't dwell on it, It's just...I love him," said Callie.

"Just go to sleep Cal and worry about it tomorrow," said Marie before she fell back asleep.

"Goodnight, Marie," said Callie as she rolled back over and fell asleep.

* * *

At Octo Valley, Sergeant Maxie and her unit had gotten off the octozeppelin. She was not looking forward to the grilling the lieutenant would give her after letting Blake go with the inklings. She approached the octoling command station and prepared for an ass-chewing. She walked through the main doors and entered the busy chamber. She saw the lieutenant with her back turned and gave a deep sigh.

"Lieutenant, Me and my unit have returned from the Saltspray Rig, unfortunately, the Major got away but thankfully without the human in her position," said the sergeant.

"(sigh) I'm well aware sergeant, I was hoping we'd finally catch her. I'm disappointed about her escape and I was hoping you would succeed in stopping them. what do you have to say for yourself," asked an agitated Lieutenant who removed her goggles glaring back at the sergeant.

"Lieutenant, my apologies, I'm sorry I failed the mission, I...couldn't beat the major. I let my better judgment get the best of me and it cost me my dedication and reliance on my duties," said the sergeant apologetically.

"You didn't only let the major get away, but you allowed the human to get away with the inklings, why?!" exclaimed the lieutenant only getting angrier.

"That was my call, he seemed like he developed a strong bond with the inklings. I assumed I could trust them to keep him safe. I even gave the human a communicator if something should happen for extra insurance. I caved in to the inklings request for him to go back with them," said the sergeant who downed her head feeling she had failed her commander.

"give me one reason that I shouldn't try you for disobeying orders," asked the lieutenant who was clenching her fist.

"I don't have one, I...should answer to my mistakes," replied the sergeant.

"(sigh) I'll be generous sergeant. You've proved enough from your current record that you can be relied upon, but this sets you back. I won't court marshall you. Let's just say you've demoted your reputation with the army. As of now, with the human in inkling territory, this complicates matters. The major is still on the loose and I'm sure she'll contemplate a plan to try and capture the human again and retaliate against us at the given chance. Right now let's focus on the octo rebels before they plan anything else. Oh and sergeant, do shower before heading back to your quarters. I can smell you before you got off that octozeppelin, " said the lieutenant as she waved her hand in front of her nose.

The sergeant smelled herself and blushed. "Yes, mam," she said as she headed out the door and to the showers to clean herself.

At the showers, the sergeant had leaned forward propping her hands against the shower wall. Thoughts were running through her head thinking about how she felt about failing her duties and orders. She brooded over it but was slightly relieved that she wasn't demoted or thrown into the stockade. She wanted to gain her commander's trust back and was willing to do whatever it took. After a few minutes, she turned around away from the showerhead with the water running down her bare back. She thought about how Blake saved her from Callie when she tried to crush her with the roller. conflicting emotions were spiraling in her mind especially after seeing the two on the octozeppelin on the way back.

The sergeant slowly shook her head and opened her eyes. She turned back around and cut the shower faucet off and stepped out. Nude, she walked over to a locker to gather her clothes when she heard a noise coming from the other side of the room. "Alright come out, Melvin," said the sergeant in a displeased tone.

A male octoling stepped out with his hands up giving the sergeant an awkward grin. "Heeyy...sergeant, funny seeing you here," he said nervously.

"Melvin, what did I say when I caught you in here spying on me, you little perv?" asked the sergeant crossing her arms.

"Sergeant...I can explain, I..." started the octoling as he got punched in the face and slide back a good distance from the sergeant's powerful blow.

The octoling sat up and covered his bloody nose. "aaahhh... geez!" jeered the octoling.

"That's for being in the female showers you little shit! Now get out of here for a stomp you into a puddle!" shouted the nude sergeant standing over him.

"Y...Y...Yes, Sarge! It won't happen again!" fretted the octoling as he octo formed and flew out of the shower room.

The sergeant gave a deep sigh and shook her head. She walked back over to her locker and got dressed. She looked into the mirror in the locker and felt the scar on her cheek. she thought about the major and the fight they had back on the Saltspray Rig. She closed the locker and walked out of the showers and headed over to her quarters to catch up on some well-deserved rest.

* * *

Blake was having flashbacks in his dream of when he fought alongside Cuttlefish. He remembered when they had to flee out of the inkling village and lead the inklings out of the valley and into the human ruins. He remembered fighting and almost getting squished by the giant octostomp that was sent to hunt them. He remembered the old plaza and studio where he and Mimi slept and she left the bite mark on his neck. Blake jerked awake from his slumber panting and covering his face as he still laid on the spare bed. He looked up at the ceiling and thoughts were racing through his head about his past experiences. He started to sit up but he soon noticed he wasn't alone in the bed.

"Hmm?" pondered Blake as he saw an arm on his chest and felt another arm run under his neck. There was also a long black tentacle that ran across his body and the end where the suction cup was, stopping where his crotch was. Blake was shirtless as he got hot in the middle of the night and still had a bandage wrapped around him from the wound he sustained back on the rig.

He looked over and saw Callie still asleep right next to him. "Callie?" said a stunned Blake. Callie mumbled and got a tighter grip on Blake as her arm was over his wound and he jeered from his wound. Callie started to wake up after she heard Blake and moved her arms. Her golden eyes started to slowly open as she saw Blake. A smile grew across her face and Blake felt a little awkward about the situation.

"Callie, what are you doing here?" asked Blake unsure how to react to her presence.

"I...couldnt sleep...it's just I've had a lot on my mind and we've been through some much for the past week," said Callie as she sat up staring at Blake.

"That's...understandable, but why are you in my bed and not with Marie?" asked Blake curiously.

Callie blushed and turned her head. She bit her lip and didn't want to wait to tell Blake how she felt towards him. Her anxiety grew and it got the best of her as she turned back to Blake. "Blake...I have to tell you something," said Callie hesitantly.

"What is it Callie?" asked Blake.

"It's just...ever since I met you, I've had feelings for you. You've been a true friend to me and Marie and have been like family to us too. It's just I told Marie that I wanted to be more than family for you and well during the past weeks, you've shown me how great of a person you really are and I think I'm...(gulping)... in love with you," said Callie as her face turned beet red as she stared at Blake with pleading eyes.

Callie stared at Blake and waited for how he would respond. Eagerly she was hoping Blake would accept her feelings and the two of them could be a couple.

Blake remained quiet as he was in shock hearing what she had said and hinted that Callie liked him by the behavior she had been showing. He saw her pleading eyes and knew what she wanted to hear but he had inner conflicts about it and his mind told him that it wouldn't feel right going out with Cuttlefish's granddaughter and saw her as family.

Blake gave a sigh and turned his head. After a moment he turned back to Callie who was still anxious to hear his response. "Callie...I...how do I say this..." started Blake as he looked at Callie as she got closer.

"Callie what I'm trying to say is..." said Blake as Callie was right in his face anxious to hear Blake out.

"I...I..." started Blake as Callie all of a sudden pressed her lips to his and she wrapped her arms around him. Blake was laid down by the inkling as she continued to kiss him. Blake was stunned by Callie's action and didn't resist until he came to his senses and lightly shoved Callie away. "I...I...Don't know what came over me! I was caught in the moment and..." started Callie as Blake looked up at her.

"Callie, I'm sorry but I can't accept your feelings," said Blake hastily.

"Huh? But Blake I..." said Callie.

"Callie it's not you, it's me...I don't feel right doing this with you being Cuttlefish's granddaughter. Cuttlefish is like a brother to me and you and Marie have been like family to me. I'm not sure if I can get past that, I'm...sorry Callie, but I love you too but not in that way, I hope you understand," said Blake after the two of them sat up.

Callie's face darkened and she turned away looking down. "Callie?" asked Blake as he started to put his hand on her shoulder.

"I just thought...that we could..." said Callie sadly.

"Callie, please, you...have to understand, it's hard to explain," said Blake.

"I understand Blake, It's just...your the only guy I've had feelings for and it's just...I thought we could be a couple," said Callie as tears started to fall off her face.

"Callie, I didn't mean to make you cry this doesn't mean I may have a change of heart, right now I couldn't come to terms with it, especially with everything that's happened since I came back out of that pod," said Blake.

Callie started to perk and go back to her cheerful self hopeful that maybe she and Blake could be a couple sometime in the future. "Blake, I'm...glad I met you, me and Marie. I'm...disappointed that me and you couldn't be...a couple, but I'll accept you being a dear friend and family and I hope that we'll be more than that later. I'd always wanted to start a family after me and Marie quit being singers and newscasters. I'll still love you Blake," said Callie as she reached over and hugged Blake.

Blake had accepted her condolence and hugged her back, but something chimed in as he embraced the squid sister. The memory of him and Mimi sleeping in that old studio years ago and the talk they had about starting a family had Blake remembering about his old inkling lover Mimi and the human ruins from long and it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Wait..." said Blake as he pulled off Callie.

"W...What is it Blake?" asked Callie with concern.

"This place... this studio, the plaza...I remember it, Me and Mimi were here, this is where me and her lead the inklings to escape Octavio and his army, this is where I almost got killed by that giant octoweapon, It's coming back to me!" exclaimed Blake as he turned and looked at Callie.

"What! That's good Blake! Wait...you mean to tell me, you were here before it became Inkopolis? The story you told me and Marie about when you were fighting with gramps, that's amazing!" exclaimed Callie.

"Mimi...Cuttlefish said that he hadn't heard from her in years, I...got to know if she's still...around. Cuttlefish said she was still running her clothes shop in Calamari County. I gotta know," said Blake.

"She's the gal you were talking about that you had a relationship back then, wasn't she and the one that gave you that bite mark," asked Callie.

"yeah...she's the one that, like you, wanted to have a family too, but..." said Blake rubbing the scab of the bite mark and then downing his head.

"Hey! Me and Marie were heading to Calamari County to visit family, you could come!" exclaimed Callie.

"You...mean it?" asked Blake with his spirits lifting.

"Yeah, I'll talk to Marie about in the morning, you'll love it, Blake. It's where me and Marie got our start as pop singers. I'd love for you to meet our folks, Blake." said Callie who was getting excited.

Blake gave Callie a hug who blushed and hugged him back. "Thank you, Callie. I appreciate all you and Marie have done for me. I'd just better if I went, to get some closure, I just hope she's still around so I can let her know I'm back, I'm sure she didn't take it well hearing about what happened to me. She's...probably moved on," said Blake.

"Oh, Blake, I'm...sure she's still around, I mean gramps is, you won't know until you see yourself," said Callie.

"You're right, Callie. Let's head to bed and thank you, Callie, for being family. You and Marie," said Blake giving Callie a smile.

"Your welcome Blake, and thank you for watching out for gramps and being family to me and Marie too, I just hope that we could start our own family," said Callie as she smiled back.

"Goodnight Callie," said Blake as he rolled over.

"Goodnight...Blake," said Callie hesitantly as she had a lot on her mind and left Blake's room. She headed back to her bed with Marie. She laid back down trying to not disturb her cousin with thoughts racing through her. She had come to peace with Blake's decision and was persistent that Blake would have a change of heart but accepted that he accepted her and Marie as a family like their grandfather. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep ready for the trip to go to Calamari County the next day.


	37. Arc 2 Chapter 22

**Arc 2 Chapter 22**

It was morning in Inkopolis as the sun was beginning to rise. Blake and the squid sisters were going to Calamari County today to visit their family and Blake wanted to see if Mimi was still around. Cassie the night prior went home and saw that Izzy was fast asleep when she got back to her apartment. Izzy was tuckered out from the training she had with her new friend Flash, a rank B+ turfer who had volunteered to train Izzy. Cassie had felt bad that she couldn't see Izzy play and wanted to make it up to her the following day.

Back at the studio, Callie had gotten up earlier than she usually does and decided to make breakfast for herself, Marie and Blake. Blake was still asleep as a smell jarred him awake and he slowly opened his eyes and sat up. Callie was almost done when she heard footsteps coming from the hallway towards the rooms where Marie and Blake were still sleeping. Blake soon appeared rubbing eyes as he walked up. He stopped to yawn and stretch and was wondering what he was smelling.

"Hey! Good morning Blake," said Callie as she was fixing breakfast.

"Morning, Callie, I had wondered what I was smelling," said Blake looking over to the food that Callie had just done cooking.

"Oh, yeah, I thought that maybe you and Marie might wanna eat some breakfast before we left," said Callie rubbing the back of head giving a smile.

"Thanks, Callie, I didn't know you could cook," said Blake who was ready to eat.

"Yeah, my mother taught me how to cook back when I lived with my parents in the county. I can't wait for you to meet them, Blake," said Callie happily.

Blake froze when he heard the word parents. He thought about his parents from his visions and a saddened look appeared on his face. Callie noticed this and was concerned by Blake's expression. "Blake, what's wrong?" asked Callie.

"Oh, it's...nothing, let's eat," said Blake trying to cheer back up. "What did you cook Callie?" asked Blake unsure what Callie had made.

"Oh, it's fried salmon eggs with rice. It's good Blake, go ahead and try it," said Callie handing Blake a plate.

Blake sat down and dug in. He loved the food and complimented Callie on her cooking. "Callie, this is delicious!" exclaimed Blake as he finished.

"Wow, you finished that pretty quickly," said Callie stunned by Blake's fast eating.

"Well, I haven't eaten for a while, so yeah, thank you," said Blake handing her the empty plate.

The two heard footsteps come out of the room Marie was in. Marie walked in groggily and yawned. She saw Blake and Callie then smelled the food Callie had cooked. "Morning, Marie," said Callie giving her a smile.

"Morning, Cal, what'd you cook for breakfast?" asked Marie who still hadn't woken up yet.

After a while. Marie and Callie had got done eating and were gathering their luggage. Marie and Callie were in the room they slept in while Blake was in the studio waiting for them to get done. Marie looked over at her cousin who had just got done packing. "Cal, did...you get up in the middle of the night or something?" asked Marie.

"Um...yeah, I couldn't sleep," replied Callie.

"Where'd you head off too? It was a while before you came back to bed," said a curious Marie.

"I...uh...walked out," said Callie hiding her lie.

"Cal, I can tell when you're lying, tell me the truth, It was Blake wasn't it," said Marie giving her cousin a serious look with her hands on her hips.

"No, I um...(sigh) yes, Marie...I snuck into Blake's bed, I just wanted his company is all," explained Callie trying to keep her composure.

Marie shook her head and looked back at her cousin. "Cal, all you had to do is tell me, I understand you have strong feelings for him. I don't know why you're trying to be sneaky about, I have no problem with it," explained Marie.

"It's not that Marie, I guess it's because he's a human and I'm an inkling," said Callie.

"Cal, what's that matter, as long as he's a good guy and treats you right, that's all that counts but yeah I guess I could see where you're coming from," said Marie who sat on the bed next to Callie.

"Well, Blake woke up last night and so did I, we got to talking about things and I finally told him how I felt," said Callie looking back at Marie.

"And so, how did it go?" asked Marie.

Callie had a distressed look on her face and looked down at the floor. "He said...he didn't feel right about it, he said that me and you were more like family because he thought of gramps as a brother. I was saddened by it and I was hoping we could be a couple and that he would accept my feelings, Marie," said Callie switch her head down.

Marie placed her hand on Callie's shoulder. Callie picked her head back up and looked at Marie. She gave Callie an expression of reassurance and hope. "Cal, how I see it, he did accept your feelings. He said that you felt like family to him and that's something I would garner. We have been like family to him, look at what we've been through for the past couple of weeks. I wouldn't get upset about it, in fact, I would embrace it and maybe Blake will have a change of heart sometime later after he settles down," said Marie.

"That's exactly what Blake said, that he might consider us being a couple in the future and that he wasn't ready," said Callie.

"See Callie, You just have to be patient, If Blake's not ready, then he's not ready. Be glad that he considers you family," said Marie as she gave her cousin a hug.

The two of them hugged and smiled at each other. "You're right Marie, I...shouldn't rush a relationship, I'm glad Blake sees us as family," said Callie getting her composure back.

"Well, let's get our things together. The tram to Calamari County will be here soon," said Marie as they got up and gathered their luggage. Soon the three of them left the studio and headed to the tram station for Calamari County.

* * *

Outside of Octo canyon was some kind of station that was near the coastline. There was a group of octolings waiting on a pier for the sub to return with major and hopefully the human as well. After a moment they spotted the sub surfacing out of the water and toward the pier. The sub stoped and the hatch opened up. One octoling jumped out followed by the major who hoped on the pier. They noticed that a piece of her tentacle was cut off. "Major, are you alright?" asked an octoling who was waiting on the pier.

The major glared at the octoling which had the octoling startled. "I'm fine, let's hurry and get back to the base," said the elite irritated.

"What about the human, were you successful?" asked another octoling.

"We were unable to obtain the human, thanks to that sergeant, she's becoming a real thorn in my tentacle. We have no choice but to fall back to plan B," said the major.

"Plan B? Will we be able to pull it off? What happens if we get caught?" asked one of the octolings.

"It's our only option, now assemble the troops and prepare for the initial stages. We can only hope for the best and know that those traitors are preparing to halt any further operations we're planning, now go!" commanded the major.

"Yes, Ma'am!" the octolings saluted as they left for the canyon.

The two octolings that rode with her in the sub stayed back and looked at the major in question.

"Are you sure plan B will work?" asked one of the octolings.

The major glared at them and the octoling just gulped. "questioning my decision making private?" asked the agitated elite.

"N...N...No Ma'am, what are our further orders?" she asked.

"Your orders are for us to head back to base and inform Red Queen that we failed to obtain the human and that we no choice but to commence plan B even though she may reject the idea but Hopefully, I can coax with her about it and we can continue with Operation Teal Dawn," said the major.

"The Red Queen has kept her identity from us for a while, can we even trust her?" asked one the octoling.

"Listen here, private, She is making our plans possible and has been pulling strings behind the curtains in the octarian capital. Like us, she is putting herself at risk and has proven a loyal leader and I trust that she believes in our cause. If you ever have doubts again, I'll be sure to throw you off the ledge of the canyon and see you splat when you hit the bottom, now get going!" roared the elite as she shoved the octoling.

The three of them left the small station and made their way to the rebel base in Octo Canyon.

* * *

At Flounder Heights Izzy and Cassie had just woken up. Cassie headed to the fridge to grab an ink soda when she saw she was out. "Hmm...I gotta make a trip to Mako Mart," she said.

Izzy was sitting on the couch messing with her squid phone. She had gotten Flash's number from yesterday and wanted to see if he wanted to hang with her and Cassie. She called his number but got no answer. She left a message and hoped he would pick up sometime soon.

"Hey, Izzy whatcha doin'?" asked Cassie.

"Oh, just trying to get a hold of my friend," replied Izzy.

"One of your friends that were going to stay with, when you came to Inkopolis?" asked Cassie.

"No, I met him yesterday, his name is Flash, He helped me at the tutorial area train for turfing. He showed me how to shoot my splattershot jr., I've gotten better at thanks to him," said Izzy.

"Well, that's great Izzy, good for you and I'm glad you made another friend," congratulated Cassie.

"Yeah, I'd wish you were there though but thanks to him I got over it. I wasn't sure if I wanted to compete anymore," said Izzy.

"Izzy about that, I wanted to make it up to you, for bailing on you yesterday," said Cassie rubbing the back of her head.

"Cass, it's ok, I'm not mad at you, I understand you had to go on a mission and all," responded Izzy.

"Yeah but still, I wanna do something for you, we can go to the square and do some shopping or get you some more gear for when you do compete in turf battling," said Cassie.

"That's ok, Cass, but I did want you to meet Flash. I wanted to see if he wanted to hang out with us. I just hope he answers back soon," said Izzy.

"I love to meet Flash, He sounds like a cool guy, how about we get ready and meet him at the square, that oughta' give him time to call you back," suggested Cassie.

"Ok, Cass, I'll go change and get the starter kit," said Izzy as she headed to Cassie's closet for her stuff.

When the two of them got done they headed toward the square on a bus. On the bus, Izzy was anxiously waiting for Flash to call her. Cassie looked over and gave Izzy a reassuring smile and let her know that he'll probably get in contact with her soon. They were almost at the square and Izzy was still waiting for Flash to call back. They got off and headed inside the square.

* * *

Sergeant Maxie was heading back to the command center to receive any further orders from her commander. She had a rough night's sleep and was fighting her drowsiness. The sergeant was recanting her dream about fighting the major on the rig but in the dream, she was losing the fight with the major and was mortally wounded from being stabbed. She fell down on the deck and looked up to see the major smiling down on her with Blake being held by two other octolings. The sergeant was bleeding out and losing strength as she watched the major and the octolings take Blake away as she held her arm out toward them. "Blaaakkke!" she yelled as she blacked out. This made her jar awake, covered in sweat when she woke up.

The sergeant walked into the command center and approached the lieutenant who had her back turned. She turned around when she heard footsteps behind to see the sergeant approach her. "Have a hard night's sleep?" asked the lieutenant seeing the sergeant's groggy expression.

The sergeant just moaned and looked at the lieutenant. "I'm fine, ma'am," she responded.

"Well as of now, our priorities are tracking the octo rebels movement and preparing for any retaliation they may use against us. Let's hope they don't try and recapture the human since someone allowed him to go back with the inklings," said the lieutenant directing toward the sergeant.

"I have faith that the inklings will ensure that never happens and he is carrying a communicator if something should happen," said the sergeant.

"hmm, maybe so, for your sake. But enough of this discussion, let's focus on the mission at hand. You and a small team will be on a reconnaissance. You are to track the octo rebels every movement, report their activities and ensure that the human doesn't get captured again," commanded the lieutenant.

"Yes, Ma'am," saluted the sergeant.

"Hurry and gear up. Your team will be waiting for you at the bay for an octoseeker to transport you and them to Octo Canyon, oh and Sergeant..." informed the lieutenant.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" asked d the sergeant.

"Specialist Melvin will be on your team," continued the lieutenant.

"What?!" shouted the sergeant as she went wide-eyed behind her goggles.

"Oh, I know about the showroom situation, he told me how he got punched in the nose. I know how you won't enjoy the pleasure of having him on the team but he is intuitive and would prove useful on your team if you should be compromised and I know you'll keep him in line. He's smart but he is a perv, I trust you'll keep him straight sergeant," said the lieutenant giving a smirk.

The sergeant gave her a displeasing look and growled. "Fine, but he better not even look in my direction, or so help me I'll strangle him until his face matches the color of his tentacles," threatened the sergeant not eager to work along the octoling that was spying on her in the shower room.

"Well, head out and rendevous with your team," ordered the lieutenant.

The sergeant just gave her another salute and headed back to her quarters to gather her gear. She sat on her bed and shook her head. "I can't believe she placed that little creep on my team. (sigh) well, it is what it is. I need to focus on the mission at hand. That dream I had...when I saw Blake get taken away, I felt..." said the sergeant as she quickly shook her head as she drifted into thought.

"Why am I feeling like this? Is it because he saved me back on the rig from that inkling. The same inkling that held his hand on the octozeppelin. (sigh) focus Maxie. The mission" said the sergeant as she got up and headed out the door.

Thoughts about Blake and Callie were spiraling in her head and she struggled to get her mind off of it. She had reached the bay to meet up with her recon team.

As she examined her team she had noticed that a certain octoling was missing. "Hey! where's Melvin?!" she asked irritated.

"I'm coming Sergeant!" shouted a voice running behind them.

"Specialist you're late! Where were you?!" demanded the sergeant who glared at him.

"I had to get my gear together. this is my first time going out in the field, I..." said Melvin as he was cut off by the sergeant.

"Shut up and get into formation!" shouted the sergeant.

"Y...Y...Yes Ma'am," replied the startled Melvin rushing over with the rest of the octolings.

"Alright, you should all know that we are to conduct recon in Octo Canyon. We are to spy on the rebels' operations and ensure that they don't initiate a retaliatory assault on us. We are to remain undetected and report to command on any of their activity," said the sergeant.

All the octolings nodded with a delayed nod from Melvin who had the sergeant give him a death stare.

"Good, now let's get on the octoseeker and move out for the canyon," said the sergeant. All the octolings loaded onboard the quad rotor aircraft that was piloted by one of the new twintacles. A twin-tentacled octotrooper that was smarter and stronger than their single tentacled counterparts. The octoseeker lifted up and flew off to Octo canyon.

* * *

Callie, Marie, and Blake were outside the tram station waiting to head to Calamari County. Callie and Marie were in their disguises and so was Blake. Marie managed to get Blake a fake tentacle wig and fake inkling eye masks and fangs. She had gone to Anne the sea anenome's shop to see if she could make these items. Though she questioned Marie about it and Marie replied that they were just for props for the studio. After a while, the tram arrived that was heading for Calamari County.

"Well, this is it," said Marie. "You guys ready?" she asked.

"Yep! I'm ready!" said Callie excitedly.

"I guess so," replied Blake.

Then all of a sudden a figure approached them from behind. It was Cuttlefish. "Alright grandsquids, remember to make sure the Bucko stays incognito, I don't feel right about the lad goin' with ya' but I trust he'll manage," said Cuttlefish to the squid sisters. He looked over at Blake resolving his concern. "I know you wanna go and see if your old girlfriend is still around lad, I just hope she is and maybe you two could make up and catch up on good times. Don't worry Bucko, I'm sure she's there and tell her I said howdy for me," said Cuttlefish to Blake.

"I will Captain, I mean if she's still alive, what do I say? I mean its been years and..." said Blake in slight distress when he was waved off by Cuttlefish.

"Bucko, you'll know what to say when you met her, I'm sure she'll be showered in joy to see that you've been alive this whole time," said Cuttlefish reassuring Blake.

"She's...probably moved on and forgotten about me," said Blake depressingly. Callie had seen Blake's saddened expression and felt uneasy about his predicament hoping that things may turn better when they got there.

"Lad, you didn't choose to leave her or me for that matter. You didn't decide your fate, it's just that's how it was and I forgave Octavio and moved on, there was nothing you could've done about," said Cuttlefish trying to give him peace of mind.

"I know Captain, this...isn't going to easy," replied Blake.

"Life isn't easy Bucko, we all have good moments and bad ones, you just gotta face them when you do, I have faith in ya lad that things will be right," said Cuttlefish.

"Thanks, Captain, your the best friend I could ever have," said Blake as he hugged Cuttlefish. Both Callie and Marie gave a warm smile as they saw the two hug from the heartwarming moment.

"Well, you three get a move on, tell the family that Cuttlefish says hey," said Cuttlefish as he let go of Blake and waved at his granddaughters.

The three of them boarded the tram and waved at Cuttlefish. The tram moved forward and made it's way to Calamari County.

Onboard Callie and Marie sat next to each other on one side and Blake in one seat on the other. Blake had still dwelled on what he and Cuttlefish were talking about and how we would present himself to Mimi if she was still around. It would be heartbreaking to know if she had passed, but on the other hand it would very uneasy to meet with her and letting her know he's been alive this whole time. Blake gave a deep sigh and slouched in his seat deep in thought.

Callie looked over who was sitting next to the window on the other side of the aisle. Marie was between them on her headphones listening to some music. Callie wanted to go sit next to Blake and console him when all of a sudden female inkling walked up to Blake and asked if she could sit by him.

The inkling had yellow tentacles with one long wavy one that dropped down and covered almost half her face. It was one of the new inkling hairstyles that was becoming popular. Her eyes were brown and she wore a red t-shirt with a black long sleeve shirt underneath it. She was also wearing black tight pants and white and black converse style shoes. She gave Blake a smile and Blake moved over so she can sit next to him.

She had noticed that Blake was wearing a similar attire and his fake tentacles were the same color as hers. Blake slouched back over and just stared out the window. The inkling turned and looked at him. "My name's Sunny by the way, what's yours?" she asked.

Blake looked back at her. "Umm, my name's Blake," he answered.

"Blake. that's a nice name," she said. "So where ya headed?" she asked him.

"I'm just headed to the county to meet a friend, if she's still there," said Blake as his tone was starting to get gloomy.

"A friend, not a girlfriend," she asked curiously. Just then Callie glanced at the two and gritted her teeth at the inkling girl who she felt was flirting with Blake.

"Well she...used to be, but I'm sure she's moved on," said Blake in a melancholy tone.

"Moved on huh, well you know, I just got in a break up about a week ago and I've moved on," she said.

Blake just gave her an uninterested look and turned back to the window. "You know I just noticed the love mark on your neck, it looks pretty old, you wanna new one?" she asked promiscuously as she leaned over toward Blake ready to bite his neck. Then all of a sudden Callie clenched her fists and jumped up.

"I don't know who you think you are but leave him alone! he's been through enough as it is and he'd appreciate it if a loose squid like you didn't fraternize with him! He doesn't even know if his friend is still around and this isn't easy for him to take in! So back off!" shouted Callie.

Marie and Blake were stunned by Callie's outburst. Sunny looked over in shock as well not expecting the black-tentacled inkling girl across the aisle from them to get hostile to their conversation. She shook her head and sat up giving Callie a narrow-eyed expression. "Who are you? And why do you care? What is he taken?" Sunny sneered.

"No! It's just he's been through enough and your not helping matters!" Callie exclaimed.

"Well, I found him first squid! and it looks like he could've used some company," said Sunny snidely.

"What! he doesn't need your company, he needs..." said Callie as her and the inkling girl were face to face with sparks shooting between their eyes. Callie was cut off by Marie grabbing her arm.

"Callie, leave it alone and sit back down," said Marie as she directed her cousin. "And you, go find another seat to sit in, like she said he's been through enough and he doesn't need a yellow-tentacled floozy to comfort him and get in his pants," said Marie giving the inkling girl a glare.

"Hmpf, fine! I can go find another squeeze to hit up on!" sneered Sunny as she left and headed to the back of the tram.

Blake looked at the two cousins and was utterly surprised at them defending him and running off the inkling girl.

"Blake you ok?" asked Marie.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for running her off, I wasn't sure what to do," said Blake.

"She didn't need to work on your emotions like that Blake," said Callie.

"yeah, I just wanted some time to myself, I'm glad she's gone," said Blake.

"Do you want me to sit next to you, Blake?" asked Callie.

"Thanks, but no, I just wanna be to myself, Callie," said Blake as he turned back to the window.

"Oh...ok, then," said Callie depressingly as she sat back down.

Marie looked back over to her cousin with a smirk. "Smooth move Cal, Seems you got pretty defensive of Blake especially when she tried to bite him," replied Marie to her cousin's actions.

"What?! She was messing with him, I wasn't let her get to his..." explained Callie to be cut off.

"Relax Cal, just squiddin' yeah, he's family and we don't let people mess with our family, I'm glad you did what you did," said Marie giving her cousin a smile.

Callie started to gain her composure again and looked down with a gloomy face. "Yeah...family," said Callie depressingly.

The tram ride to Calamari County remained quiet and peaceful without anymore outburst or moments. The squid sisters stayed on their side and Blake on the other dwelling on what he would do once he got there. Blake is yet put in another difficult bind that proves to be almost as bad as getting kidnapped by Camper and his gang.


	38. Arc 2 Chapter 23

**Arc 2 Chapter 23**

Blake and the squid sisters had finally reached Calamari County. As they got off the tram Blake looked around and saw the familiarity of the village. It was the same village he lived in back before the great turf war. He was awestruck and couldn't believe he was back in the inkling village. The village still had its classical Japanese style architecture and old dirt paths that posed as streets for the village. Some of the inklings were walking around in traditional clothing like back then and some were wearing modern clothes like back in Inkopolis.

"Well, Blake, what do you think?" asked Marie.

"It...brings back memories, I used to live here back when your grandfather found me. I'm...glad I came," said Blake who was trying to hide is tears.

"Blake, are you ok?" asked Callie seeing Blake's expression.

"It's nothing, I'm just taking a trip down memory lane, I guess," replied Blake looking back at the squid sisters.

"Well, let's get going, the folks won't keep waiting and Blake I forgot to let you know that my parents own the local hot springs. I thought you could relax after everything we've been through as well as me and Callie," said Marie.

"Oh, that would be nice I guess, I have been out of it. I was thinking coming here might get my mid off things," said Blake.

"I can't wait to go to the hot springs!" shouted Callie as she fist bumped in the air.

Marie shook her head and the three of them continued on when they were shortly met by two older inklings. One was a female wearing a decorative purple and yellow kimono and sandals. She had light magenta tentacles, they were tied in a bow with two long lobes that dropped off in the back. Similar to the style Callie had her's in and had a squid-shaped comb perched on the left side of her head.

The other one was a male wearing a traditional formal kimono and pants. He was also wearing sandals like the female beside him. His tentacles were a charcoal black and had the ponytail style like most male inklings have with what looked like chopsticks at the base of the tentacles instead of a braid.

The two of them greeted the group with a smile. "Mom? Dad?" replied a surprised Callie.

"Hello, Aori, We've been waiting for ages for you to come home," said her mother. "Yes, my little squid, we've missed you," replied her dad.

"Mom, Dad,

you're embarrassing me!" flustered Callie with a red face as she covered it.

Marie smirked and Blake just turned his head as he rubbed it.

"Well, how's our little Aori been doing? How's your job and singing career been? Have you found a husband yet?" asked Callie's mother.

"I've been fine mom, but me and Marie aren't giving the Inkopolis News anymore or hosting the splatfests. That's why we came down to the county to visit since we have time now. And no I haven't found a husband yet!" explained Callie as she got flustered again by her mother asking if she had a husband.

Callie's parents soon turn toward Marie and Blake who've been quiet by the comical interaction between them and their daughter. Callie had her arms crossed with her bottom lip out having a difficult time keeping her composure.

"Hey, Aunt and Uncle," greeted Marie as she waved.

"Hello, Hotaru we've trusted that you've been watching over our daughter, we had hoped that we would've had grandsquids of our own soon. We enjoy you two coming back to the county to see us," said Callie's mother.

"Well me and Callie have been wanting to come and see our family again, even though she's embarrassed by them but it's good to see you too," said Marie before she looked over at Callie and gave her a light smirk. Callie had a displeasing look on her face as she had her arms back with her hands closed.

"Who's this?" Callie's father asked.

"Oh, That's Blake, He's our friend, umm...we met him in Inkopolis," said Marie hiding her lie.

"Oh, well it's a pleasure to meet you, I hope you enjoy your time in a quaint little village. You're pretty tall for an inkling," said Callie's father as he bowed to Blake.

"It's a pleasure to meet Callie's parents," said Blake as he gave a bow. "Yeah, I told them that I would go, see some new scenery and get away from Inkopolis for some time," said Blake rubbing his head.

"Well, we own the local restaurant here in town, you three should stop by and eat, it's the best food all around the county," said Callie's father.

"ok, mom and dad, we don't mean to cut this visit short but we gotta get to Marie's folks, I'm sure they're waiting for us," said Callie trying to avoid any more embarrassment.

"Alright then, we won't keep you guys waiting, but please stop by and at least visit us," said Callie's mother as her parents waved and walked off.

"What's wrong Cal, didn't like being embarrassed in front of Blake?" said Marie as she gave Callie a wide smirk.

"No! It's just we got places to be! Your folks are still waiting on us at the Inn and I'm sure Blake's ready to take it easy," said Callie blushing.

The three of them headed to the village Inn while Blake steadily looked around at his surroundings. As they walked down the street something caught his eye and he locked on to a familiar building. Blake had a startled expression on his face thinking about the inkling that was in love with him back before the war.

"Blake, what is it?" asked Marie with concern.

"It's...Mimi's clothes shop...I recognize it...I..." said Blake as he trailed off into thought.

"Blake...I understand, I know what you wanna do, go ahead and me and Callie will meet you at my parent's Inn, I just wish you the best," said Marie as she and Callie turned toward the direction of the Inn. Callie looked back and froze staring at Blake. She had thoughts racing through her head about Blake and Mimi. She bit her lip and turned away following Marie.

Blake slowly approached the clothes shop and stared at it one more time before he gulped and walked in. He was as anxious and nervous as he has ever been and wanted the moment of truth and how we would explain himself to Mimi if she was still around. Blake's heart was pounding from 90 to nothing and his hands were shaking. he grabbed the handle to the door and walked as he gave a deep breath and continued in.

* * *

At Inkopolis Square, Cassie and Izzy were browsing through the stores stalling for time. As they were walking out, Cassie spotted a figure that she hadn't seen in a while. It was Annie a sea anenome who owned a shop know as Cooler Heads back at Inkopolis Plaza. "Annie?" asked Cassie as she ran over to greet her.

"Oh, hey Cassie," responded Annie who was sitting on a bench.

"Hey, where've you been?" Cassie asked. "I haven't seen you for some time since you closed the store," She commented.

"Well, I decided to have my store on SplatNet since I think people got tired of Moe and plus I let Flow, go ahead and open her shop in the square," said Annie.

As she was talking a clownfish appeared out of her head and stared at Cassie. "Oh, it's you, get out of here and leave us be, ya squid! She has enough problems as it is," said the clownfish.

"Nice to meet you too Moe," said Cassie sarcastically.

"Who's that asked Izzy spotting the clownfish. "Oh that's just Moe, he's a jerk," commented Cassie.

"Great another squid, Why don't you two get lost!" said Moe rudely.

"Moe quit being mean! You have to excuse him, It's just been tough since we left the plaza," said Annie as Moe hid back in her hair.

"What's wrong Annie?" asked Cassie.

"Well, it's just...I miss the plaza, I thought I could run my store online and get more business but things have been pretty slow, I thought things would get better," said Annie sadly.

"Annie don't worry, it's just the square just opened and the turfers are just now drudging up business for the new shops, They will eventually catch on to the online stores. You just gotta be patient," said Cassie reassuring Annie.

"You think so, I just miss meeting people who came into my store," said Annie.

"I don't!" commented Moe hiding in Annie's hair.

Cassie rolled her eyes and focused back on Annie. "Annie I miss your shop too, but things come and go, like the squid sisters. I hate that they won't give the new reports anymore or spectate the turf matches," said Cassie.

"I guess," replied Annie sadly. "Well, I better get going then," said Annie as she got up and headed out of the square.

"See you later Annie, hope things get better for you," said Cassie.

"Put a sock in it squid!" shouted Moe as Annie walked off.

"Moe! What did I tell you!" scolded Annie as Moe retreated back into her hair.

"Who was she?" asked Izzy.

"A friend and she used to own Cooler Heads back when the plaza was open," she told Izzy. "I hate it that she doesn't have a store here in the square," said Cassie.

"That sucks, I hate to hear that, must be lonely to hear she opened a store on SplatNet," said Izzy.

"Yeah but what can you do, she chose to let someone else open another shop here instead," replied Cassie.

The two continued on through the square until they heard footsteps run behind them. They turned and saw that it was Flash running towards them. "Hey! Izzy!" waved Flash.

"Flash!" exclaimed Izzy.

"Hey! I got your message, sorry I was a bit tied up," said Flash rubbing the back of his head.

"It's ok, Hey! I'd like you to meet my best friend Cassie," said Izzy greeting Cassie.

"Nice to meetcha', the name's Flash," said Flash.

"Name's Cassie, It's nice meeting you too," said Cassie shaking his hand.

"I've been giving Izzy pointers on how to turf battle. She's not bad for a rookie. In fact, I think she might ready for a match," said Flash proudly.

"Wait a minute, Flash you really think I'm ready. You only trained me for one day, I'm not so sure that..." protested Izzy as she was cut off.

"Nonsense, I know you're ready, C'mon you can be on my team and I need another team member," said Flash as he smacked her on the back.

'Flash, are you sure she wants to do this?" asked Cassie.

"She won't get better just shooting at squid targets all day. She's gotta play the game to get the feel of it," replied Flash.

"If you think so, then I guess I'll play then," said Izzy rubbing her arm.

"That's the spirit!" exclaimed Flash as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Izzy, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," said Cassie.

"No, he's right, I gotta start somewhere, why not a turf match, It can't be that hard," said Izzy.

"Then it's settled, meet me over in front of the lobby in 10 minutes, I'll see you then," said Flash as he ran off to gather the rest of his team.

Cassie and Izzy looked at each other. Cassie could tell that Izzy was unsure and nervous about joining a game. "Izzy, I know you're having second thoughts, just tell Flash you don't feel like doing this, I'm sure he'll back off," advised Cassie.

"But I, It's just he's helped me while you've been away and he has confidence in me, I don't wanna disappoint him," said Izzy rubbing her arm.

"Is this what this is all about... because I wasn't here. Izzy, I'm sorry about leaving on my mission but I had no choice. I was gonna train you as soon as I got back. I think Flash is being a little pushy and overzealous. I don't want you to get hurt or crushed because you weren't ready and got pressured into a turf game," explained Cassie in a concerned tone.

"Well, I'm sorry too. I know you had to go do a mission, but I came to Inkopolis to play turf wars and that's what I'm gonna do. I'm tired of waiting, so I'm joining Flash's team whether you like it or not," said Izzy as she stormed off.

"(Sigh) Izzy...I know you've been wanting to play turf wars but I don't you to lose and have your spirit crushed like mine did during the splat tournament," said Cassie as she watches Izzy walk away.

* * *

Sergeant Maxie and her team were riding on the octoseeker to Octo Valley. It was cramped and she didn't look forward to the trip especially with specialist Melvin on her team. She made sure Melvin wasn't anywhere near her as she rode in the front and he rode toward the back. It was an uncomfortable ride to the canyon as the vehicle was noisy and rocked on the way there. They finally arrived outside the canyon and the octoseeker hovered downward. The back hatch opened and all the octolings got out with the sergeant being the last one.

"Someone needs to teach that twintacle how to drive," said the sergeant irritated rubbing the back of her neck. She soon turned to her team. "Alright! Is everyone ready? The octoseeker is about to touchdown," said Maxie before hatch opened and they ran out of the octoseeker.

The octoseeker flew off as soon as the octolings got off and headed back to base. They all looked around and studied their surroundings. They were on top of a canyon overlooking the chasm that was in front of them. "So, this is Octo Canyon, I don't know why the octo rebels would choose this place to operate from. There's nothing here but a bunch of rocks and stuff," popped off Melvin.

"Ink for brains, most of the structures are underground like back in Octo Valley. Don't let the surroundings fool you. Now let's head out! and keep up Melvin!" she jeered as she smacked Melvin in the back of the head.

The recon team left the drop zone and walked around the large chasm to see if there was any activity or any place that lead them down into the underground domes that were under the canyon. It had been an hour and the octolings stopped to rest from the walking. The sergeant whipped out her binoculars and scanned the canyon not seeing anything. The octolings were drinking out of their canteens while Melvin sat down on a rock rubbing his feet.

"Man I'm out of shape, being down in those domes can pamper ya but I glad to see the sun. It's been a while since I've been outside like this. I forgot what the sky looked like," said Melvin as he rubbed his feet and admired his surroundings.

"We have the sky simulated on those screens inside the domes, but it's nice to get outside those domes for a change," said a female octoling. Her tentacles were different from a normal octoling's tentacles. They were smaller and her eye marks were black instead of purple when she took her new-style goggles off.

"Well, how about you and me go do something together after we head back," suggested Melvin as he was flirting with the octoling female.

The shadow of a figure appeared over him from behind and he felt a hard whack to the head. "YOWCH!" the octoling jeered as he rubbed his head.

"Shut and stop flirting, you perv! Your out here on a mission! Not trying to pick up a date! Numbnuts!" shouted the sergeant glaring at Melvin as he turned around.

"Jeez! What's she got...oh yeah," said Melvin remembering the showroom ordeal.

After a while, the sergeant signaled her unit to keep moving with Melvin moaning to get up and start walking again.

It was another long walk and half an hour later the sergeant signaled her team to stop as she spotted something. She pulled her binoculars out and spotted Mount Nantai which was closer to inkling territory. As she looked she spotted a tea kettle and structures on the mountain.

"What is it, Sarge?" asked the octoling that Melvin was hitting on.

"I see a tea kettle, maybe a way down into the underground domes, I'm not so sure, let's go see but be cautious," said the sergeant as she waved her team to move.

They make it around to Mount Nantai and spot another structure. It appeared to be a decorated shack with some Japanese-style to it. A large gramophone speaker was on top of it and a green and decorated curtain was lowered down covering part of the structure. There was also a rock-like arch with an octopus looking formation on the top of it. The team walked through the rock formation with Melvin staying back observing the shack and the octopus-like formation. "Melvin, get your ass over here!" shouted the sergeant as Melvin was distracted and falling behind.

"uh...y...yes, ma'am," he stammered as he rushed to catch up with the team.

The team walked into another area that was full of floating platforms and rock formations. They soon saw the tea kettle in front of them they assumed headed into the underground domes and areas.

The team approached the tea kettle with Melvin dragging his feet. The sergeant lifted up the lid and examined the kettle. "It seems to be working," said the sergeant. "All right everyone, this is going to rough ride and Melvin, try and not throw up!" she directed to her team and glared at Melvin.

The sergeant hopped in first with tea kettle starting to boil, it soon steamed and shot the sergeant down a tube. The other octolings followed suit one by one with Melvin last having second thoughts. He clutched his body and gulped not looking forward to the trip. He hopped and like the other octolings, it boiled and steamed and shot him done the tube as well.

* * *

Blake had walked into the store, the last time he remembered it was when it collapsed from the octarian's surprise attack on the village when the war started. He looked around still in his inkling disguise recanting the memories of when he first walked in the store where he first met Mimi. He approached the counter eager to see if his old inkling lover was till managing the store. His heart was throbbing in his throat as he stared at the bell laying on the counter. He very slowly placed his hand on it and rang it. He gave a deep breath as he heard footsteps come from a room behind the counter.

A female inkling walked up but she was young. She had long orange tentacles and her eyes were green. She wore black-rimmed glasses and had an s-Shaped hairpin on her head. She couldn't have been Mimi as she was too young and Blake stared at her with uneasy feelings.

"Yes, Can I help you?" asked the inkling girl.

"I...um, I thought..." is all Blake could get out as the inkling raised her eyebrow unsure how to make Blake's expression.

"(sigh) I'm sorry, I was hoping that...I would see an old friend, she...used to run this shop," said Blake depressingly as his heart sunk to see the inkling wasn't Mimi.

"Friend? I'm not sure who you're referring too, my mom and grandmother were the only ones who've run our family business," said the confused inkling girl.

"Wait...grandmother? She wouldn't happen to be...Mimi would she?" asked Blake hopefully.

"Yes, that's my grandmother's name, but how would you know her?" asked the curious but suspicious inkling girl.

"Umm...my um, grandparents were friends with her, yeah I came from Inkopolis and wanted to come and visit the county with my friends," said Blake hesitantly rubbing his arm.

The inkling girl was kind of confused and unsure how to make out Blake. She decided to head to the door and call someone. "Gran, their's someone here to see you, he says that his grandparents were friends of yours and that he came here to see you," shouted the inkling girl.

footsteps could be heard coming out of the room. The inkling girl moved out of the door and a familiar figure came out. She was wearing a pink kimono with a koi fish design on it. Her tentacles were long and a pale orange color. Her eyes were pink as she stared at Blake in his disguise.

"Who are you?" she asked Blake.

Blake froze and wanted to cry seeing the sight of Mimi in front of him. he remembered the inkling from long ago and the good times they had before and during the war. He was holding back his tears trying to keep his composure. He gave a deep breath and looked at the elderly female inkling. "I... wanna talk to...you alone...if you don't mind," asked Blake struggling to keep his composure.

Mimi was unsure how to react. As she had no idea who the disguised inkling was and her granddaughter was leery and wasn't sure what Blake was up to. "Umm...I guess so, We can go outside if you want," said Mimi. "Tori, go ahead and watch the store," she asked the inkling girl.

"But, gran, we don't know who this inkling is, he seems different," said the inkling girl giving Blake a suspicious look.

"Now, Tori, I'll see what this is all about, just do what you're told," said Mimi sternly.

"Yes, Gran," she said as she got behind the counter staring at Blake uneasily.

The two of them walked out and went around the corner of the building. Blake downed his head and looked back at Mimi with a distressed look. Mimi was curious about who the disguised inkling was and was cautious herself. "(sigh) Mimi I...how do I say this? It's been so long I don't know how to tell you this..." stammered Blake unsure how to explain himself.

"What's this all about youngin'. How do you know me?" asked Mimi cautiously.

"Mimi I know how to break this to you, but...I'm Blake...I've been alive all this time," said Blake with distress in his voice.

"Blake? No that...can't be? Your not Blake! Blake is..." said Mimi as she got emotional starting to tear up.

"No, it is me! Here...let me show you..." exclaimed Blake as Mimi turned to him leery of what he was up to.

Blake slowly removed his tentacle wig and inkling eye mask. He stared at Mimi who was frozen and speechless at Blake's reveal. Tears started to form and run down her face.

"What trickery is this?!, you can't be real! I..." said Mimi as she backed away from scared of the sight she was seeing.

"Mimi it is me! Look!" exclaimed Blake as he showed her the old bite she left on him from years ago. She reached her hand out and touched it. She covered her mouth as more tears poured down her face. "Blake, It is you!" she shouted as she jumped toward him and gave him a hug.

"Mimi it's ok, I've missed you too," said Blake hugging Mimi with tears going down his face.

The two stayed in that position for a while catching up to the memories they both had together. They eventually pulled away looking at each seeing tears of joys on each other's faces. "Blake! What happened! Cuttlefish said you died on the floating Valley!" exclaimed Mimi with tears still in eyes not believing Blake was standing in front of her.

"Mimi...I'm sorry, Octavio he... took me away from you..." said Blake as he started to cry again.

"Blake, it's ok... I'm glad you're here, but how?" asked Mimi still in shock.

"Octavio...stuck me back in the cryopod I was found in, he threw me off the floating valley thinking I would've gotten crushed when I hit the bottom of the ground. There was nothing I could've done. The cryopod froze me again and I woke up a month ago in this museum back in Inkopolis. I've been through so much since then, it's a long story," explained Blake wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I'm so sorry what Octavio did to you Blake, I knew I would never see you again when I saw Cuttlefish carry your bamboozler. The whole village wept and I lived in grief for a long time. I quit talking to Cuttlefish and I moved on and started a family without you. It seemed like the memory of you faded away as time went on and the village rebuilt their lives after the octarians were banished," said Mimi.

"I understand, I thought I would never see you or Cuttlefish again, I'm glad... you moved on. I should've known that things would've never worked out," said Blake sadly.

"Blake...I still love you, it's just I wish things could've worked out, I wish the war never happened, I wish we could've been a couple, I..." said Mimi as she trailed off.

"Mimi...I love you too, It wasn't meant to be but I still glad I got to see you again," said Blake as he leaned over and kissed Mimi on the forehead.

"Blaaaake... I'm... so sorry..." said Mimi as she wept into Blake's shoulder.

"Mimi it's ok, how about we just... go to the garden and catch up on the good ole' times," suggested Mimi as he pulls her off and looks at her. She nods with a smile and Blake smiles back before giving her a quick hug.

They both head to the village garden with Blake putting his disguise back on. They walk through the main gate and sit on a bench in front of a reflecting pool. Blake tells Mimi about his adventures around Inkopolis and getting kidnapped by Camper and the octo-rebels. He tells her about him reuniting with Cuttlefish and becoming strong friends with Callie and Marie and the events that had transpired over the time between now and when he came out of the pod.

Mimi was both amazed and deeply concerned with everything that Blake had told her. She had told Blake that she had married an inkling sometime after the great turf war when she had the shop rebuilt. She fell in love with him after he helped her fix the shop and bared a child by him. Blake was somewhat happy for Mimi, but at the same time saddened that she and he couldn't start their own family. They talked and caught up on everything that had happened over time and hugged one another before they left out of the garden.

Before Blake and Mimi were outside the main gate, Mimi looked at Blake. "Blake, I know the right girl will come along and you two will start a family together. I haven't totally taken you out of my life. You will still have a special place in my heart and a dear friend that was always there for me. Just have faith Blake and I know she'll be the one," said Mimi giving Blake a smile.

"I had just about given up on even getting with anyone, as a matter of fact, I guess you say there is a gal that was wanting to be a couple, but I didn't feel right about it," explained Blake.

"Blake, you'll know when she's the one, If you didn't feel it in your heart that she was the one, then maybe you're not ready," said Mimi.

"Maybe so, As of now, with everything that's happened, I'm not ready to start a relationship with anyone," said Blake as he downed his head.

"You don't need to rush, Be patient and the time will come," said Mimi placing her hand on Blake's shoulder.

Blake picked his head and gave Mimi a smile. They continued out of the garden gate and Blake headed toward's the Inn. Mimi headed back to her shop as they both waved at each other. She turned and saw a figure crossing her arms giving her an irritated look. It was her granddaughter Tori concerned at the whereabouts of her grandmother.

"Gran, I've been worried about you all this time. What have you been doing?" she asked Mimi in a stressed tone. She turned and saw Blake walk down the street with his back turned. "Who was that?" she asked.

"A friend. We were just catching up on old times," Mimi replied looking at Blake with a smile. Tori had a puzzled look on her face and her irritation resolved, soon the two of them headed back to the clothes shop.


	39. Arc 2 Chapter 24

**Arc 2 Chapter 24**

The major and the octo rebels had made it back to Octo Valley to regroup and continue with the next phase of their operations. They were at their base deep under the canyon. The major was standing in front of a giant screen answering to a dark silhouette that was hiding their identity. The figure was displeased with the major and the rebels not being able to have the human in their possession.

"I'm sorry my queen, but the squidbeak agents and that pesky sergeant..." explained the major but was cut off by the figure.

"Enough! No excuses! You and the rebels have failed me! You were supposed to retrieve the human from those inkstains!" shouted the darkened figure.

"Forgive me, your excellency," apologized the major as she bowed.

"To hear Plan B initiated is unacceptable, but I guess we have no choice, Major, gather up the troops and prepare to retrieve your new target," said the silhouette on the screen.

"Yes, My queen!" said the major as she gave another bow.

"Good, don't fail me again, For your sake...Red Queen out!" said the silhouette as the screen turned off.

"Black Knight out!" responded the major. She turned around and faced the two octolings that escorted her. "What are your orders," asked one of the octolings.

"We'll assemble a team together to retrieve the new target. Let's hope we have enough resources for the mission," said the major.

"Ma'am if you don't me asking what is the new target?" asked the octoling.

The major turned and gave her a stern look. The new target is DJ Octavio himself. He was captured and was being held outside of Octo Valley for retrieval by the Octarians for trial. As far I know, he is still there awaiting pick up. The octarians have been too occupied with heeding our operations and have prioritized us and the human. We need to free him and bring him back here before the octarians get him," explain the major.

"Why do we need Octavio?" asked the octoling.

"He's still our leader! But initially a fallback to the Red Queen. I'm not sure what her intentions are but I won't question them. She won't tell me what she wanted with the human and why she feels Octavio needs to be taken out of the loop," said the major with a displeasing attitude.

"Who exactly is the Red Queen? She's been a little too helpful if you ask me, she won't even let us know her identity," said the octoling.

"I won't question her leadership and neither will you. Now let's gather up the troops and go and get ready for our next mission," said the major as they left for the barracks.

* * *

Callie and Marie were talking with Marie's folks and going over their time at Inkopolis like with Callie's parents. Marie was also asked if she was seeing anyone and if she was getting married and provide them with grandsquids. Marie turned red-faced and flustered much like Callie. Callie laughed at the sight of her cousin with Marie giving her a frustrated glare. After their conversation, Marie's parents turned back to the two girls. Marie's dad was wearing formal dark colored kimono. He had grey tentacles with a ponytail style wrapped in a ribbon. Her mother had pale light green tentacles pinned up in a bun. She was wearing a white and green decorative long kimono with gold and black colored designs.

"So where is this friend of yours?" asked Marie's father.

"He had to go see a friend of his before he came here," explained Marie with her embarrassment resolving.

"So who is he?" asked Marie's mother.

"He's a good friend of ours, we met in the city," said Callie.

"Could he be your boyfriend, Marie?" asked her mother again.

"No! He's not my boyfriend!" exclaimed a blushing Marie.

"How about Callie?" asked Marie's mother turning toward Callie.

"He's...just a friend," said Callie meekly.

After a moment the door opened and Blake in his disguise walked in. "Hey, guys," he said waving at them.

"Hey Blake," said Callie and Marie in unison.

"So this is him?" asked Marie's father.

"Yeah, dad this is Blake," said Marie. "Blake, these are my parents," said Marie trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you," said Blake bowing to Marie's parents.

"It's nice to meet you too, we were hoping that our little Hotori would've been engaged to someone by now," said Marie's mother as her daughter was covering her face.

"Well, let's show them their rooms and I'll get a room ready for Blake. Sorry but I don't allow opposite genders to stay in the same rooms," explained Marie's father.

"That's understandable I don't mind," said Blake.

Marie's father guided the group to their rooms. Callie and Marie were on the executive wing of the Inn. They walked into their room and were amazed by it. "Only the best for my Little Hotori," said Marie's father. Callie and Marie's room was a large decorative Japanese style suite. The large room was made up of a den and a small kitchen. The bathroom and bedroom were on the side of the suite.

"Well you two get situated and I'll take Blake to his room," said Marie's father as he headed out the door.

Blake and Marie's father headed to another wing of the inn. This was were the causal suites were and Blake was guided to his room. "Well, here we are," said Marie's father.

Blake walked into his room with his luggage and looked around. He turned back to Marie's father and thanked him with a bow. "We hope you enjoy your stay," said Marie's father. "Oh, and also, I'm sure my daughter and niece told you about our hot springs here at the inn. Just to let you know we also don't permit opposite genders to sit in the springs together but don't worry there is a divider running across the spring. Just to let you know and no funny business, I know you're my daughter's friend but I would advise you not to try anything," said Marie's father giving Blake fair warning.

"Don't worry sir I'm not that kind of...squid, we're just friends," said Blake.

"Good, I expect you and my daughter will enjoy yourselves, I'll let you unpack then," said Marie's father as he closed the door and left.

Back at the girl's room, Callie and Marie had just got finished unpacking and decided to get ready to head to the hot springs. Callie stayed quiet and was stuck in thought thinking about Blake and Mimi. Marie looked over to Callie who had sat on the bed. "What is it, Cal?" asked Marie.

"Nothing, I wonder how Blake's visit with Mimi was?" Callie asked herself.

"Cal, you gotta remember that she was Blake's old crush and besides she's probably gramps age. She was probably speechless and overcome with joy like gramps when she saw him. They probably just caught up on time. Blake seemed his normal self, I'm sure they enjoyed each other's visit," said Marie.

"Yeah Blake did seem calm, I'm just also thinking about what yours and my parents said. It won't be long until we do get old enough that we oughta be married," said Callie turning toward her cousin.

"Is that what that's all about, C'mon Cal, I don't care what my folks think and neither should you, the time will come," said Marie as she sat next to Callie.

"(sigh) I know, but..." started Callie. "Cal, look at me, I'm not going to rush into a relationship or marriage, just enjoy life," said Marie looking at her cousin.

Callie turned her head away and remained silent. She got up off the bed and crossed her arms. "Marie, I know you're trying to make me feel better but, I just don't have the same outlook as you do. I still love Blake and I just wish we could..." said Callie as Marie got up and walked over to her.

"Cal, I'm not going to tell you what to do but you can't expect Blake to be your prince charming if he doesn't feel like dating, as he's said. He values us like a family and I'm happy with that and so should you," said Marie putting her hand on Callie's shoulder.

After a moment Marie removed her hand and Callie turned back to her. She looked at cousin and gave her a hug. "Blake...is family, I just hope...things may change," said Callie as she pulled off Marie.

"Cal, don't dwell on it, let's just enjoy our time here, let's head to the hot springs and get our mind off things," said Marie giving Callie a smile.

"Alright Marie, let's go ask Blake if he wants to go," said Callie as the two of them left and headed to Blake's room.

* * *

Back In Octo Valley, the lieutenant was heading down to the labs. She was waiting for the results of the blood drawn from Blake when he was treated on the octozeppelin. She walked through the lab doors and looked around. She saw all the octoling scientists walk around examining ancient human artifacts and taking notes. After a moment the lieutenant was approached by an octoling in a lab coat. "Lieutenant, what brings you here?" she asked.

"I'm still waiting for the results of the blood drawn from that human," she replied.

"Oh, yes the results, come with me," she directed to the lieutenant.

The octoling and the lieutenant walked to another section of the lab. Inside were tables with fossilized remains of humans being studied and cleaned by more octolings in lab coats. Further into the large room was lab equipment such as beakers and test tubes with fluid running down plastic tubes to other containers.

The two stopped in front of a large table with a computer and more lab equipment. "So, what's the verdict?" asked the lieutenant.

"well, yes, we concluded that the blood is a match for human DNA and we've detected nothing out of the ordinary, but you did say the subject's name was Blake?" asked the octoling with curiosity.

"Yes that's what the sergeant said, what about it," responded the lieutenant.

"Well, our human culture and language expert had deciphered something on the old human computers that were connected to the domes. He found a list of habitants that were supposed to occupy this dome over 2000 years ago. He uncovered the names and Blake Carter had come up with three other individuals having the same last name as him. Could this be the same Blake?" asked the octoling.

"I'm not sure? We could've asked him if the sergeant would not have let him go back with the inklings," replied the lieutenant.

"What! But we need him, he's the only human alive so far and he's in serious danger being exposed to the outside world," said the octoling in the lab coat.

"You don't think I know that! (Sigh) Just keeping looking for anything else that could tie that human with that inaccessible area of the dome," the lieutenant ordered the octoling.

"I'm not sure what else we can do, You must be referring to "The Vault" that we couldn't get into. We've never been able to gain access inside that place even when we were under Octavio's rule. You really believe that human, I mean Blake has any connection to it?" said the octoling.

"I don't know, the domes were constructed by humans long ago so I can only assume yes," said the lieutenant.

"I'm not so sure," said the octoling researcher.

"I'm not so sure myself, that's why we need to get that human back here soon, for now, I'm focused on the octo rebels, they still pose a threat to us and the inklings," said the lieutenant placing her arms behind her back.

"I understand, Lieutenant, I know peace is of the most importance, we will keep looking for anything we can do," said the octoling.

"Continue on," said the lieutenant as she left out of the lab. The lieutenant was eager to get Blake back to Octo Valley and figure out the truth of what the octarians had uncovered.

* * *

Marina and Pearl were at the studio getting ready to announce the upcoming turf matches. Pearl had walked in and plopped down in her chair. Marina got behind her turntable checking her equipment. "Well, Rina, looks like the rookies are getting their squid butts kicked in these turf matches, I'd show um' a thing or two if we weren't busy," said Pearl.

Marina chuckled and looked back at Pearl. "I'm sure you would, but you gotta remember Pearly, they are new, in time they'll get better," said Marina with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, well where's the upcoming turf matches going to take place at?" asked Pearl as she stretched.

"Looks like Musselforge fitness, it's the new fitness center they opened up," said Marina.

"Musselforge Fitness, I've been there, I've been having to lift weights and stuff so I stay in shape. You know those dualies I just got aren't the only guns I pack, any squid that looks at me funny will get a ticket to fist city," said Pearl punching the air.

"Oh, Pearly, what I'm I gonna do with you," said Marina as she covered her mouth to hide her chuckle.

The cameras turned on and they appeared on the giant screen in the square.

"Y'all know what time it is!" said Pearl with a hand gesture.

"It's off the hook, coming at you LIVE at Inkopolis Square!" followed by Marina.

"Check it! Here are the current Regular Battle Stages!" said Pearl.

"Looks like Musselforge Fitness is the first," said Marina.

"As I was telling Marina here, this is where I come and get pumped. The fitness center has been converted over with ramps and other obstacles found on a turf war stage, so you squids better stay fit if you wanna make it through this stage. So good luck," said Pearl giving another hand gesture as Marina scratched her record.

Outside the turf players were watching the news and new stage announcements as the two of them were still going over the new turf stage. Izzy and Flash were in the square watching the screen. Flash just rolled his eyes and looked at Izzy. "Well, you ready Izzy?" asked Flash twirling his dualies.

"I'm ready Flash!" shouted Izzy with confidence.

"Alright! Well let's head to the lobby then," said Flash as he and Izzy headed to the tower.

Cassie was running through the crowd searching for Izzy. She wanted to apologize and reason with her about playing in the turf match. "Izzy!" she shouted.

She looked around and spotted her and Flash heading toward the lobby. "Izzy wait!" she shouted and rushed over toward the tower but she was blocked by the crowd of inklings.

At the tower, Flash met up with two more of his team members. "Izzy this is my team, meet Ben and Jazz," said Flash.

"Yo!" greeted Ben. He was brown-colored inkling with orange spikey tentacles. He welded a .96 Gal that resembled a grenade launcher.

"Hey, there!" greeted Jazz. She was fair-skinned inkling with purple banger style tentacles. She had an inkbrush propped over her shoulder.

"You guys this is Izzy, she's a rookie but I'm going to let her join our team," said Flash.

"It's nice to meet you guys," said Izzy as she waved at the two inklings.

"First timer huh, Don't worry you'll get the hang of things," said Ben.

"Well if you get splatted, you'll be transported back to the spawn pad," said Jazz.

"I've never played, so I hope you guys help me out," said Izzy.

"No prob, we got your back, Izzy " said Flash putting his hand on her shoulder.

Izzy looked over and gave Flash a smile. The team smiled back at her as the lobby opened behind them. "Well let's go," said Ben.

The four of them walked into the lobby ready for their match. Cassie spotted the group going inside and she shoved and pushed trying to catch up with them but it was too late. "Izzy!" she yelled. She made it to the front of the tower. She looked up and got frustrated that she didn't stop Izzy in time.

"Izzy! I'm sorry!" she shouted at the door. She turned and walked away feeling remorse for her actions. Cassie sat down at a bench nearby and watched the large screen for the upcoming match. She had hoped that Izzy and her team would do well on her first match.

* * *

Back in Calamari County, the group got ready to head to the hot springs. They went to separate gender-oriented changing rooms next to the springs. Callie and Marie went to the female side while Blake went to the male side. There was a divider like Marie's father had said that split the springs into two sections. Callie and Marie wore their towels until the got into the warm water. Even though inklings had an instinctive fear of water and couldn't swim. The two girls took their time getting in and stayed on the shallow part of the spring. Blake on the other side laid his towel aside and slowly made his way to the far side of the spring where it was a little deeper, deep enough he could sit down in the water and enjoy the soothing heat.

Callie and Marie were laying back enjoying themselves when all of a sudden they heard someone get in the spring with them. When Marie peeked she saw the same inkling girl that was hitting on Blake on the tram. She had sat down across from the girls and didn't notice them. "Cal, isn't that the girl from on the tram?" asked Marie bumping Callie's shoulder.

"Yeah, I think her name was Sunny, I didn't expect to see her here though," said Callie slightly surprised.

"Well I'm not gonna let her ruin our good time," said Marie eyeing the inkling girl.

The inkling girl's attention got caught by Marie's words and she spotted the two girls. She gave a glare at the both them with a smug look. "Hmpf, didn't know you two would be here, well you might have ruined my chances of catching that cutie on the tram here, but I'm not gonna let you two ruin my chances of enjoying my vacation. By the way, where is that friend of yours?" asked Sunny with her arms crossed.

"That's none of your business," snapped Callie.

"Why? I thought you were gonna catch another fish?" asked Marie.

"I didn't see anything that caught my eye, Is he here with two?" she asked snidely.

"So what if he is, we wouldn't tell you," snapped Callie again.

"I bet he is, He's over on the male side isn't he," said Sunny with a devious look.

"Don't even think about, I'm sure you know the rules, don't make me have to report you," said Marie as she sat up giving Sunny a stern look.

"Oh, of course, I wouldn't, but I did forget my phone back in the changing room, I'll see you two later," said Sunny as she wrapped herself up and got out.

"She's up to something," said Callie.

"I agree, let's follow her," said Marie.

The two got out and covered themselves and headed to the changing rooms where Sunny was supposedly heading.

Sunny snuck down a hallway around the changing area and made her way to the male side. She walked past the changing rooms and scanned the male side of the springs. It was steamy and she soon spotted a figure on the far end. Though Blake had removed his tentacle wig and eye mask she couldn't tell he was human from where she was at. A devious grin went across her face as she approached the edge of the water. She disrobed and slowly made her way into the water. Fortunately, Blake was the only one on the male side and she was determined to woo her quarry.

Blake had his head laid back and didn't notice that another figure made their way into the springs on his side. The nude inkling girl crept closer and closer to Blake. "Now I can catch cutie without any squid girls getting in my way," she said to herself.

In the girls changing room, Marie and Callie were looking for Sunny but spotted her stuff on a bench along with her phone. "Where is she?" asked Callie starting to panic.

"I bet I know where," said Marie with a displeased look crossing her arms.

"(gasp) who don't think," said Callie as she covered her mouth?

"Yep, let's go, Cal, I know we're breaking the rules, but we can't let Blake's identity get out, C'mon," said Marie as the rushed out. Outside they heard splashing coming from the other side of the divider. "Oh no, we don't have time to go around, We gotta get over the divider, Cal I'll let you get over," said Marie as they headed over to the divider.

Meantime, Sunny was almost near Blake, when he heard someone swimming toward him. He jarred awake and placed his disguise back on before anyone saw him. He looked and saw a figure approach him. His eyes widened as he saw the inkling girl that was flirting with him on the tram. It was Sunny with a wide smile and blush across her face.

"Hey Cutie," cooed Sunny staring at him.

"S...S...Sunny, W...What are doing here! This is the men's side! If we get caught we'll..." said Blake as Sunny covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shhh, be quiet...and no one will know, now let's finish off where we were," said Sunny still covering Blake's mouth.

Blake shook his head and wasn't sure what to do. Sunny was leaning against him and he felt trapped. he could only pray that something would happen to get him out of this predicament. Blake pulled Sunny's hand off his mouth. "No! You need to leave! I'm not getting in trouble over this!" said an annoyed Blake.

"We won't unless you shut up!" shouted Sunny as she latched on to Blake. As Blake felt the inkling girl's body rub up against his, he panicked and thrashed around trying to shake her off without any "incident".

Callie and Marie rushed over and heard a struggle and yelling on the other side of the divider. "We gotta hurry! Cal, get on my shoulders I'll boost you up," said Marie.

Callie nodded and hopped on Marie's shoulders as she raised her body up enough for Cal to peer over the wall. Cal frantically looked around and spotted Sunny and Blake. Her eyes widened and she gritted her teeth at the sight between Sunny and Blake. She balled up her fists and her face turned red.

"Callie! What's going on?!" asked Marie.

"GET OFF OF HIM! YOU SLEAZY SQUID!" roared Callie as she leaned over the wall ready to pull the inkling girl off Blake. As Callie leaned over she lost her balance and fell over to the other side with her towel falling off. "Oh no! Cal!" shouted Marie as she felt Callie fall over.

Both Sunny and Blake looked up and saw Callie falling towards them. They were flabbergasted at the sudden sight and Sunny jumped back from Callie landing on her. Blake was frozen and couldn't move. Callie fell into Blake's lap and as she did, she felt something. Her eyes went wide and her face had frozen as it turned redder and redder.

"C...Callie?" asked Blake awkwardly knowing exactly what had just happened and what Callie had felt. After a few awkward seconds Callie cried, "WWWAAAHHH!" she screamed and squid formed shooting off like a rocket and landing back on the female side of the spring.

Marie was speechless as she saw Callie shoot over the divider and landing back down. She rushed over and eyed Callie. Callie was still in squid form with swirly eyes in a stupor of what just happened. "Cal...Cal...What happened?!" asked Marie in distress. Callie just muttered in squid form as Marie picked her up and looked back at the divider trying to figure out what happened.

On the other side of the divider, Sunny rushed out grabbing her towel to avoid getting caught. She rushed back into the girls changing room and gathered her things. "That was close, pesky squid chick, I was this close to sealing the deal, oh well," said Sunny as she walked out pretending that nothing happened.

Blake, on the other hand, was in utter shock and agape with what had just transpired. His mind was racing from 90 to nothing experiencing the unthinkable. he slowly made his way out of the spring covering himself up. He made his way into the changing room and got his clothes back on. He was hunched over rubbing his head going through the moment, unsure what to do when he met up with the girls. He decided to wait until they left back to their room and then headed to his room avoiding them. Blake felt utterly horrible after the incident and was ready to head back to Cuttlefish's thinking that he ruined their relax time.

* * *

The sergeant and her recon team had just climbed out of the tea kettle that brought them deep into the canyon. The sergeant looked around as the rest of her team were coming out of the tea kettle. Melvin was the last one out bending over throwing up on the ground from the rush. "I never wanna do that again!" exclaimed Melvin with a green face still woozy from the trip.

"Melvin! Get it together!" shouted the sergeant. She turned back ahead of her and saw numerous floating platforms and structures. "Well let's keep moving," said the sergeant.

"Yes, Ma'am," said the octolings in unison. They continued on down the walkways and octo jumped across platform to platform. As the team made to a large floating platform, melvin octo formed and hopped across changing back too soon on the ledge. he was losing his balance and almost fell back off the platform only to be grabbed by the sergeant. She pulled him forward to save him from falling. He fell and kneeled forward panting heavily. "Sarge, you saved my life," said Melvin gratefully.

"Do I have to constantly keep an eye on you! I can't believe the Lieutenant would place you on my team, you klutz! Don't expect me to have to save your octo butt at every given moment! Now get back to the team!" shouted the sergeant storming off.

"What's her problem!?" exclaimed Melvin as he got up and picked up his octoshot.

The young female octoling rushed over to him. "Melvin, you gotta understand, it's nothing against you, it's just we can't fail the mission or afford any problems," said the female octoling.

"Yes, it is, ever since I met her she's had it out for me and I don't know why, even before the shower room incident," said Melvin looking down.

"Shower room incident?" asked the curious octoling girl.

"It's nothing," said Melvin with embarrassment turning his face away from the octoling.

"Hey, you two! Let's get moving!" shouted the sergeant on the next floating platform.

The two of them turned toward the sergeant and rushed to the next platform to catch up with the sergeant and other teammate.

After half an hour the team spotted a large factory over the ridge. The factory was sitting on a giant floating landmass with a smaller landmass below it that appeared to a town for the workers to stay in. They noticed that smoke was coming out of the smokestacks and saw movement down below in the streets of the town. "Sarge, what is this place?" asked the octoling girl.

"I think it's an octoweapons factory, by the look of things," explained the sergeant.

"An Octoweapons factory, but isn't building octoweapons against the peace treaty?" asked the octoling female.

"The rebels don't care about the peace treaty, we have to stop them, c'mon let's get closer and see what they're up to," waved the sergeant as the team continued on. They took their time getting down to avoid getting caught and jeopardizing the mission.

After 15 minutes the team snuck into the outskirts of the town. They looked around to see if the coast was clear. After seeing that no one was around they entered the town. The sergeant waved forward and they dashed from cover to cover in octo form. They soon reached a street with buildings on both sides. The street continued forward into a large open square with a statue of an octotrooper off his platform holding a sledgehammer and wearing a hard hat. "This seems to be the workers' quarters," said the sergeant looking around.

"Where do we go now?" asked the female octoling.

"Let's slowly make our way across the square without getting detected, if you see anything that's a threat, octo form and slither to the closest cover you can find," advised the sergeant.

They slow crept across the square as they scanned around making sure they didn't get caught. They were halfway to the otherside of the square when all of a sudden they heard what sounded like a rotor headed towards them. "What's that?" asked Melvin. The sergeant listened and spotted a flying object in the corner of the square coming from down another street. "Octocopter! get down!" shouted the segeant. The team octo formed and didn't move.

The octocopter moved in closer looking around. When the little flying tentacle looked away the team slithered to the closest cover the could find. The sergeant hid under a small wooden box. While the octoling that was taking to Melvin hopped into a tire. The third octoling, another male, hide behind a pile of debris and Melvin froze in fear.

"Melvin! find a place to hide!" shouted the sergeant quietly.

Melvin shivered in his octo form and didn't know where to hide. The octocopter flew closer and looked around. The octocopter was right over melvin not noticing him yet. As the octocopter flew away and continued to scan its surroundings.

"Melvin! Move your tentacles before you get caught!" shouted the sergeant again peeking from under the little wooden box.

Melvin nodded and slithered away but he bumped into a can throwing it up in the air getting the attention of the octocopter as it turned toward Melvin. "Uh oh," said Melvin as he stopped.

The octocopter stared at Melvin and knew he wasn't an octoling rebel. "INTRUDER! INTRUDER!" shouted the octocopter as the siren on its head blared.

"DAMMIT MELVIN! Make a break for it!" shouted the sergeant as she pointed for her team to head across the square. As her team fled she fired at the alarming octocopter shooting it down as it splatted into a puddle of ink.

As the team made it across the square they looked around and heard movement come from different directions and the sound of approaching octocopters. "Spread out and find a place to lay low!" ordered the sergeant.

The sergeant ran into a building with part of the wall collapsed near the street while Melvin and the female octoling rushed into a commissary near the corner of the square and the last octoling the other male ran down the street to find a building to hide in. Once they hid out of sight, numerous octarians moved in on the square and scanned the area for the whereabouts of the intruders. "Find and capture the intruders!" ordered a twintacle on a platform in a deep gargled voice. The octotroopers nodded and spread out looking for the sergeant and the recon team. The octocopters flew around over buildings and down the streets looking for any trace of the octolings.

The sergeant hugged the wall of the building she was in peering out a nearby window. Once the square was clear she sat down to catch her breath. She took her goggles off and looked around. It appeared to be a small bank for octarian workers when they got paid for their work. She got up and walked around. She placed her octoshot on the counter and contemplated what to do next. She gave a deep sigh thinking about what the lieutenant had told her about not getting caught and failing the mission. She thought about heading to the factory alone to avoid anymore bumbling from melvin or anyone else. She felt she couldn't afford another screw-up and put her goggles back on.

She walked back to the collapsed wall and looked around. She saw that the octarians were gone and decided to continue the mission without her team and link back up with them when she got done. She spotted the factory up on the giant landmass and gave a deep breath. She walked out and headed to the direction of the octoweapons factory eager to complete the mission without any flaws even if it meant leaving her team behind.


	40. Arc 2 Chapter 25

**Arc 2 Chapter 25**

Back at the inn where the squid sisters and Blake were staying. Marie carried Callie back to her room still unresponsive. She laid her on the bed as Marie left out to gather her things out of the girl's changing rooms. After a moment Callie slowly opened her eyes and came to her senses still in squid form lying on the bed. "What happened?" asked Callie to herself. She looked around and noticed she was back in her and Marie's room. She slowly remembered about her dropping on the other side of the divider to stop Sunny from doing the unthinkable to Blake and landing on Blake's lap falling right on his... "Oh, Cod!" shouted Callie in her mind. She changed back still naked and hid under the covers of the bed in a fetal position. She was unbelievably embarrassed at what had happened.

Marie had made her way back to their room with Callie's things and noticed a hump under the covers. "Callie? Is that you?" asked Marie.

"Don't look at me!" shouted Callie under the covers.

"Callie what's wrong?" asked Marie with deep concern.

"I don't wanna talk about it!" she shouted again.

"Cal, what happened? why are you acting like this?" asked Marie as she went to try and uncover Callie. But Callie clinched the blankets even more and whimpered.

"(sigh) C'mon, tell me what happened?" asked Marie again as she sat down on the bed next to Callie who wouldn't come out.

After half a minute, Callie finally spoke up and gave a deep breath. "I...I... don't know how to explain this...When I fell off the divider, I...landed on something," said Callie as she was fighting to keep her composure under the covers.

"landed on something? What sunny...blake," guessed Marie unsure why Callie was making a big deal about the situation.

"Umm...Blake" said Callie meekly.

"Ok, so I'm sure he's fine," said Marie.

"Mmmm..." hummed Callie. "It wasn't so much Blake it was...uh," Callie said hesitantly.

Marie raised her eyebrow and was confused by Callie's behavior. "Callie, you're not making any sense, why are you..." said Marie as Callie uncovered her head and looked at her cousin dead in the eye with a bright red face. "I fell on it! And it went..." shouted Callie as her cousin looked at her with a shocked expression. "Wait, it?..." responded Marie to her cousin's estranged outburst and finally pieced together what had happened. Marie's eyes widened and her face turned red. Her cheeks puffed and she covered her mouth. She tried to contain her laughter as tears formed in her eyes. Marie finally burst into a laughing spree and fell on the floor holding her stomach.

"Marie! This isn't funny! I've never been this embarrassed not even as much as the folk singing contest from years ago.

"I'm...I'm...sorry Cal, it's just...(snicker) I've never laughed so hard in my life!" shouted Marie as she went into another fit of laughter.

"Well I've never been embarrassed in all my life!" shouted Callie who was getting flustered by her cousin's laughing.

"Ok, Cal I'll...stop, just get your clothes back on and I'll go check on Blake," said Marie trying to contain her laughter.

"I'll go with you," said Callie putting her shirt on.

"Umm, I think you should stay here, I think he would feel the same way you did," advised Marie.

"Well, I wanna talk to him, I don't want him thinking I hate him or something, I...hate to admit it but...I kinda liked it," said Callie as she gave a bright blush.

"So you mean to tell me that you wanted to beat that inkling hussie to the punch then," said Marie giving her cousin a smirk.

"What! Shut up, Marie! It's not like that!" shouted Callie with a red face.

"Calm down Cal, I'm just squiddin' Ya, let's head over to Blake's room," said Marie as Callie gave her cousin a displeased look with her arms crossed.

Meanwhile, Blake was laying across the bed after he had gotten dressed. Blake had his eyes closed deep in thought wanting to forget the hot spring incident between him and Callie. He rubbed his face and moaned falling into deep regret even though it wasn't his fault. He stared back at the ceiling and thought to himself. "I should just leave and not tell the girls, I'm just mortified about what happened. Callie and Marie might not talk to me for a while. I don't blame them though," said Blake feeling remorse.

He sat up and started packing his things before anyone else found out. After a couple of minutes, someone had knocked on his door. He was expecting it to be Marie's father wanting an explanation. "I guess I better face the music," said Blake as he walked toward the sliding door.

When he partially opened it and peered out, He had a grim look on his face. "Marie?" he said in shock.

"Hey...Blake, can we come in?" asked Marie meekly.

"We? Who else is..." said Blake as he spotted another figure behind Marie. It was Callie rubbing her arm looking down.

"Blake...I wanna talk," said Callie looking at him seriously.

Blake gave a sigh and downed his head. "well, come on in," said Blake as he waved them in the room.

Marie noticed that Blake's bags were packed. "Blake? were you leaving?" she asked.

"Yeah, after what happened...I didn't you guys would wanna talk to me," said Blake sadly.

"What? That's not true! It was an accident, I was the one who fell over the divider, When I saw Sunny moving in on you, I just couldn't...stand it anymore," said Callie starting to blush.

"Cal, it's not only your fault. It was my idea to boost you over the railing and besides Sunny is to blame for all this, If I ever see that squid again, I would yank her tentacles off and turn her into my father!" exclaimed Marie in an angered tone.

"You guys, I know you're trying to make me feel better but the damage is done, I just wanna head back to Inkopolis," said Blake as he walked away.

He felt a hand on his shoulder as he turned around. It was Callie giving him a forgiving look, she turned him around and gave him a hug. "Callie?" he said in confusion.

"Blake it's ok, I'm not mad, I just wanna continue our little vacation, me and Marie were talking about the festival coming up and we were talking about doing a performance for our home town. I'd love you to stay and watch us sing. I've been eager to perform for you since we met," said Callie looking at Blake.

"I...are you sure?" asked Blake.

"Yes, I'm sure, C'mon Blake," said Callie tugging on Blake's arms.

"Yeah, Blake, lover girl here has been waiting for us to sing in front of you for some time now, I think this is the best time with the same contest that me and Cal got our publicity start at," said Marie with a smile.

"That sounds awesome, I have been wanting to see your guys sing since you told me you were pop singers, Alright, I'll stay!" said Blake with a smile.

"YAAAHHH! This is going to be so fresh!" shouted Callie as she jumped up with a fist pump.

Marie gave a smirk and shook her head. She turned back to Blake with a calmer composure. "I do wanna know something, though," commented Marie.

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Blake with curiosity.

"I'm assuming you were aroused by Sunny for Callie to land on you as she did," said Marie narrowing her eyes with a wide grin.

"Huh?" said Blake and Callie in unison as they turned to each other. Callie's face turned red with anger in her eyes. Blake went wide-eyed and placed his hands in front of him in defense. "No! It wasn't like that I swear!" exclaimed Blake in defense. "Marie! Why did you have to bring that up!" shouted Blake toward her with his arms up.

"You were, weren't you! You actually got swooned by that loose squid! I can't believe you!" shouted Callie in irritation.

"Callie, please let me explain! (Sigh) I can't win for losing," said Blake downing his head as Marie was chuckling off to the side.

The three eventually made up minutes later after Marie calmed things down and everything went back to normal if you can call it that.

* * *

Flash and his team were in the Musselforge fitness getting ready for their match. They were laying on a spawn pad in their squid forms, they all changed back to their bipedal forms and got ready. They were all green including Izzy. Their opposing team was pink on the other side of the stage. Izzy was extremely nervous, but Flash was assuring her that she would be fine and his team had her back. She gave a smile to him and got ready for the start of the match.

The whistle blew and they started coating ink all over the area around them. "Alright guys, just start covering everything and move forward as you go," ordered Flash.

The team coated nearly 1/4 of the stage on their side and didn't run into the opposing team yet. Izzy was being extra cautious coating the floor in front of her as she pushed toward the middle of the arena. Flash was rushing toward the center of the stage with Ben and Jazz behind watching for any pink team members.

Izzy noticed that Flash and his team weren't around and she started to panic. She stopped covering her path with ink and got behind an obstacle. "Flash? Where are you guys?" said Izzy nervously. She heard footsteps approaching as she turned looked. It was a pink team member carrying a slosher. He was coating the area with a lot of ink as he scanned the area for any green team members.

Izzy hugged the wall and clutched her splattershot jr. nervously. The slosher user was getting closer and she planned on attempting to splat him before he got too close and spotted her. She rushed around the corner facing the inkling. She shot at him but nothing happened. "What?!" exclaimed Izzy. The slosher user sneered and slung the slosher at her splatting her with his ink. She burst with her clothes and weapon left behind as an apparition of a small squid floated away and got drawn back to their spawn pad.

As Izzy formed back she had a look of fear on her face. "(gasp) what...happened? I thought I was dead and now I'm back here!" exclaimed a stunned Izzy.

"That's how spawn pads work! I assume you must have gotten plated. You better make sure your ink tank is full next time before you try to splat an opposing team player," said Flash on the squidcom.

The squidcom was a radio built on the squidwatch, so team members could communicate with each other as well as radar for the stage. "I didn't know! I was just caught up in the game, this sucks!" said a frustrated Izzy.

"It's fine Izzy just be mindful next time. Me and my team are in the middle of the fitness center. Just focus on covering the floor with ink that we might have missed and watch for the pink team," said Flash.

"Ok, then," said Izzy as she ran forward and started coating the floor with ink again.

Flash and the rest of his team were about to run onto the pink side as they got ready. A squiffer user on the pink team was lining her shot on Flash and his team as they got in her range. She focused on Jazz and pulled the trigger. Jazz was splatted in a burst of ink and her ghost floated back to the spawn pad. As she formed back she swung her arm in frustration. "Ah, Shell!" she shouted.

"Watch out for that Squiffer!" shouted Flash.

"Got it!" replied Ben.

The two of them rushed from cover to cover getting closer to the squiffer user but around the corner was a hydra user getting ready to ambush Flash and Ben.

Meanwhile, Izzy was still covering the area with ink. Jazz spotted her and rushed over toward her. "Let's go ahead and catch up with Flash and Ben, They'll get overwhelmed if we don't and we'll lose ground," said Jazz.

"Alright," said Izzy as she nodded. The two them headed toward the middle of the arena.

The hydra user jumped out from the corner spinning the hydra and aiming it at Flash and Ben. "Hydra! Take cover!" shouted Flash. They both squid formed and dove into their ink, evading the hydra user. The inkling started shooting ink over their ink hoping to hit them.

Izzy and Jazz heard the hydra firing and hurried to Flash and Ben's position. Ben was almost hit and Flash managed to get behind cover. He focused on shooting at the hydra user but the squiffer user shot at him making him take cover again.

"Carp! What do I do?" said Flash thinking of a plan.

Ben managed to get behind his own cover with the hydra user moving in on him.

"Ben hold on!" shouted Flash. All of a sudden a splat bomb fell in front of the hydra user and he didn't have time to evade it and splattered into ink.

Flash and Ben looked and saw Izzy was the one who threw it with Jazz beside her. "You guys alright?" asked Jazz.

"Yeah! thanks for the save," said Ben.

"Good job Izzy!" praising Flash with a thumbs up.

Their little victory was cut short by the squiffer and slosher user. They were cut off guard as they saw another inkling fly in the air using their dualies from the pink team. The inkling landed down in front of them on a large obstruction. The inkling was a female welding dualies like Flash. She raised them up to the green team and sneered. It was the same inkling that Izzy ran in back at the square. It was Suki and she noticed Izzy among the group.

"Hmpf...so you finally got on a team. I guess they ran out of experienced players and had to scrape up the leftover rookies in order to compete," she said.

"Hey don't talk to Izzy like that you stuck up squid!" shouted Jazz.

"Well unfortunately for her, she'll find out what turf matches are all about," jeered Suki.

"What are you waiting for! show us your moves and quit talking!" shouted Ben.

"Ok then, since you put it that way, SPECIAL WEAPON: TENTA MISSILES!" shouted Suki.

The missiles flew down splatting Flash and his whole team as they didn't have time to evade the attack. The team respawned back at their pad with Flash kneeling down punching the floor in anguish. "GAAAHHH! I can't believe she would be leading this team!" shouted an angered Flash.

"What? You know her?" asked a puzzled Izzy.

"(sigh) she used to be my...girlfriend," said Flash dropping his head.

"girlfriend!?" exclaimed Izzy in shock.

"Yeah...me and her used to see each other for some time, until we broke up a month ago," explained Flash with defeat.

"What happened?" asked Izzy.

"Hey, I don't mean to break up this...awkward conversation but we a match to get back to," said Jazz.

"yeah, the pink team has already covered over half of the stage, we gotta catch up!" said Ben.

"You guys are right, let's get back to the match," said Flash clutching his dualies. He turns back to Izzy and looks at her. "Izzy, I'll talk about it later. Right now, I'm just focused on beating her and her team, I just hope I can stay focused," said Flash turning his head away.

"Flash, I'm sorry I brought it up," said Izzy rubbing her arm.

"It's...ok Izzy," said Flash as he gave her smile and they returned to the match.

* * *

In Octo Canyon, the recon team was compromised after Melvin's bumbling and had to disperse soon after the octarians were alerted. The sergeant hid in one building, Melvin and the young female ran into a large commissary, and the last team member went missing. Once the octarian forces searched the area where the team was spotter they spread and searched around the abandoned town.

Inside the commissary, Melvin and the female were hunkered down in a small office hoping the octarians didn't find them. After a moment of waiting they presumed the octarians left and got out of the small office. "Well, I guess their gone, for now," said Melvin. He turned to the female and asked if she was ok.

"I'm fine, I just hope the others got away as we did," said the female octoling.

"Yeah, me too...hey, I didn't catch your name since we started the mission," said Melvin rubbing his head.

"Oh, I'm Private Selena, this is my first time out in the field," said Selena.

"really? me too, I admit, I didn't expect to be put in the sarge's unit," said Melvin.

"well what do we do now?" asked Selena.

"I'm not sure," said Melvin looking around. "Right now, I think we should stay out of sight, maybe there's another way out, so we don't draw attention," suggested Melvin.

The two of them walked through the building. The shelves that once held food were vacant and the floor was littered with trash and debris. "What is this place?" Selena asked as they were walking.

"It looks like an old commissary for the octarian factory workers. Seems like it's been abandoned for years, probably right after the great power outage years ago," said Melvin.

"Great Power Outage?" asked Selena.

"In the octarian history books, the great power outage, I think it happened 50 years ago when the zapfish were losing their power and dying off. It caused the power to the domes to go offline and all the remaining zapfish were transported to Octo Valley to the octarian capital. The factories were considered non-essential which caused some protest among the workers, but we had no choice," said Melvin.

"That's horrible, so they all had to leave and abandon the factories?" asked Selena.

"Yeah, unfortunately, Octo Canyon had to be vacated and everyone in it had to come back to the valley," said Melvin.

As the two continued on through the commissary they heard what sounded like something drop of the floor. "What was that?" said a startled Selena.

"I don't know, but we gotta hide again," said Melvin as he grabbed Selena. The two of them rush through a set of doors into a back room on the other side of the shopping area.

The two of them peeked out through the doors and heard a humming noise getting closer. They turned and looked to the source of the noise and saw an octotrooper on a platform scurrying down the walkway scanning the inside of the building.

"Oh, Carp! Octotrooper, get out of sight!" exclaimed Melvin quietly. The two of them hid while the octotrooper passed by. He turned toward the doors and gargled.

Melvin and Selena were hiding behind some old crates praying the octotrooper didn't see them. The octarian decided to go through the doors, once inside he looked around looking for any threats. Melvin and ducked down and did their best to sit still while the little octotrooper looked around. After a couple of minutes, the octarian left out through the doors concluding that it was clear.

"Shew, that was close," said Melvin in relief.

The two of them got up from their cover and spotted a hallway going further into the back. "Maybe there's an exit this way," said Selena pointing down the hallway.

The two walked down the empty dark hallway being watchful of there surroundings. The hallway split into two paths, one going straight and one going right. "Which way should we go now?" asked Selena.

"hmm...let's go straight," said Melvin as they continued on.

At the end of the hallway, they came into another room, it appeared to be a storage room. It was cluttered with crates and other items, but in the far corner was a metal safe.

"What's that?" pointed Selena.

"it looks...like a safe," said Melvin.

The two of them walked over and studied it. Melvin crouched down and tinkered with the tumbler but it was already open. "Huh...it's open," said Melvin.

Melvin opened the safe and saw a small book inside. "What's this?" asked Melvin as he grabbed the book. He looked through it and suddenly a picture fell out. He picked up the picture and placed the book aside. It was a picture of an octoling overseer for the factory, telling by the uniform she was wearing. The picture was old and dusty with a name on the back of it. "Matilda," said Melvin reading the name.

"Matilda?" asked Selena.

"She must've been over the factory floor when it was operating years ago. The picture looks pretty old," said Melvin before he put the picture down and turning back to the small book. Inside the book was a work roster and other personal notes. Much of the writing was worn and unreadable. The last page read:

_It's the last day until the factory shuts down. Me and my family are struggling to keep food on the table due to the power shortages. I'll miss everyone and its been a pleasure working with them. I can only hope things get better, we've already lost some octarian workers due to no power and insufficient pay to buy food and supplies. Me and my family are moving back to the valley tomorrow before the dome completely shuts down. I'm sorry everyone and I wish you all the best._

_-Matilda_

Melvin slowly placed the book down feeling saddened by the note. "Melvin...let's keep finding a way out," said Selena placing her hand on Melvin's shoulder.

"Yeah, let's keep moving," said Melvin as he placed the picture back into the book and set it back in the safe.

The two of them left the storage room and continued through the old commissary looking for another way out.

* * *

It was in the late evening in Calamari County. Blake and the squid sisters were heading to the village center where the festival was starting and the folk singing contest was being held. Both Callie and Marie were wearing traditional kimonos while Blake still in disguise was wearing a formal outfit like the one he wore back during the great turf war. Seeing the stage and all the villagers was a reminder of his past experience with the inklings when Cuttlefish and Octavio revealed his identity among the village.

Callie and Marie would perform before the folk singing would start, giving the village a show for the opening of the festival. The two of them stayed by the stage getting ready for the performance while Blake walked around admiring the booths for the festival. As he walked along, he spotted a figure wearing a pink kimono with their back turned. He walked toward them as the figure turned around and it was Mimi. "Mimi?" said Blake.

"Blake?" she said slightly surprised.

"I'm glad to see you again," he said followed by a smile.

"Me too, this brings back old memories from years ago doesn't it," she said, smiling back.

"Yeah...It does. I never thought before to ask, but I never met your husband, where is he?" Blake asked.

Mimi's face soon turned gloomy as she turned her head. "He...passed away years ago, I've been alone for sometime now, but my children kept me company until they moved away to the city and my granddaughter has been helping me at the shop," she replied.

"I'm...sorry to hear that. Do you wanna go talk in the garden for old times sake," asked Blake.

Mimi turned her head back to blake and gave a smile. "I...would love that," said Mimi as she grabbed Blake's hand and the two walked off toward the garden.

In the garden, Blake and Mimi were recanting old times. Blake even mentioned about the hot springs incident but left out some parts he didn't want to bring up. The two were sitting on the bench like before. After several minutes of talking. Mimi looked at Blake with her eyes glued to him. "Blake I miss the good ole days...back before the war when everyone got along. When you, Cuttlefish, and Octavio were good friends. When me and you met for the first time," said Mimi as turned back to the small pond.

"Me too, Mimi...but things have changed. I'm just glad that I got to see you and Cuttlefish again. I'd hoped that me and you would get married and start our own family but things didn't work out like that," said Blake as he gave a deep sigh.

Blake went into deep thought and the two remained quiet for a couple of minutes before Mimi turned back and looked at Blake.

"Who am I kidding, I mean...(sigh) I don't things would've worked out anyway," said Blake.

Mimi jarred from Blake saying that. "What do you mean?" she asked him.

Blake turned towards her. "I mean...you're an inkling and I'm a human. I don't things would work if you know what I mean. It's why I didn't want to start a relationship with Callie. I don't think anyone would've accepted it anyway," said Blake in a melancholy tone.

"Blake, it doesn't matter. Like I've said before, We're not that different. I've always loved you and I always will. I..." said Mimi as she stood up locked onto Blake.

"Well, it wasn't meant to be anyway and I never found my family. Everyone I love I seem to lose," said Blake depressingly.

"Don't talk like that, I don't like seeing like this. I wish things would've worked out between us to but I had no choice but to move on," said Mimi consoling Blake.

"Mimi I..." started Blake as he was cut off by Mimi grabbing him and pulling him into a kiss. She fell over him as they landed on the ground. Blake was caught up in the moment, feeling like he was reliving the time he had back when he and Mimi were seeing one another. he didn't resist and accepted her kiss. She rubbed her old mark on his neck and soon pulled away.

As she looked at him with a smile on her face her expression soon changed to that of shock and sadness. tears starting to form in her eyes and she quickly got up. "Mimi? what's wrong? What is it?" Blake asked with great concern.

"Its just...I'm so sorry Blake, I gotta go!" said Mimi resisting from crying. She turned away and rushed out of the garden and squid formed as she disappeared into the night.

"Mimi wait! I..." said Blake as he rushed to get up and had his arm out running after her but it was too late. Blake dropped to his knees filled with conflicting emotions. He wanted to cry himself but he held back as he slowly got up. He walked away depressingly back to the village center to go watch the performance not feeling in good spirits.

Blake managed to get back to the village square before Callie and Marie started their performance. Callie spotted Blake as she got on stage giving him a wave and grin. Blake waved back with a fake smile as Callie noticed. her expression soon turned to concern but she continued to focus on the show. Marie had noticed too and the two decided to ask him about it after their performance was done.

For nearly an hour the squid sisters sang multiple songs like: Calamari Inkantation, Maritime Memory, and Callie sang her solo: bomb rush blush followed by Marie's solo: Tide goes out.

Blake was mesmerized by their singing and the gloomy mood he was in went away and he soon felt like his cheerful self. After the show, Blake had teared up and gave a standing ovation with all the other villagers.

The squid sisters waved as they got off the stage and headed to the back before they got swamped with fans. Blake walked toward the back to be confronted by a guard, but Callie and Marie interfered allowing Blake to reunite with the cousins.

"How'd you like the show Blake?" asked Callie anxiously with pleading eyes.

"I think you were guys were fresh! I've never heard such beautiful singing, I really enjoyed it you guys," said Blake.

"You did? oh Blake," said Callie blushing as she gave Blake a hug.

The two pulled off while Marie gave a smirk. "hey, before we forget, you seemed out of it before the performance, what's the matter?" asked Marie.

"Oh, nothing, just going through old memories is all," said Blake rubbing the back of his head.

"you sure Blake, you seemed sad for some reason," said Callie.

"i...don't wanna talk about, I'm just ready to head back to the Inn," said Blake. He walked away back to the Inn with Marie and especially Callie worried about him. They decided not to bother him for the rest of the night.

"I hate that he's feeling down all of a sudden, I wonder what's the matter with him?" asked Callie.

"Cal, I'm sure he's glad to be back in the county to see the village that he and Cuttlefish grew up in, but it's probably drudged up painful memories too," said Marie.

The two of them decided to spend some time exploring the festival and headed back to the Inn not bothering Blake an hour later.

* * *

Sergeant Maxie continued on to the octoweapons factory without her team. She walked down the street until it ended over the ledge of the floating landmass the town was perched on. She saw multiple floating platforms that led to the front of the factory. She saw there were no octarian rebels around and jumped from platform to platform until she saw an Octobomber ahead, guarding the way to the factory. She didn't have time to hide and the octobomber spotted her. It shook and gargled as it spotted her and flung a splat bomb toward her. She evaded the bomb and shot at the giant flying octarian. The octobomber dodged the shot and flung another splat bomb at the sergeant.

"Damn!" shouted the sergeant when she missed the octobomber. She spotted another bomb coming at her and hopped to the next platform. She was closer to the octobomber almost under it and took no time and shot at the giant octobomber before it could react. The octobomber dropped as soon as it was hit and the sergeant jumped forward to avoid it falling on her. She jumped to the next platform because as soon as it landed it splattered and cause the platform it landed on to fall down and plummeted toward the bottom.

"That was close, well I won't be going back that way," said the sergeant as she saw the platform she was on gone and had fallen down below. She turned back in front of her and continued on until she reached the landmass that the factory was on. She saw that the front of the factory was being guarded by some octotroopers with an octosniper perched on the roof. "I need to see if I get past them, maybe's there's another way into the factory," said the sergeant as she octo formed and slithered around the building. she made her way up a ramp and into a small yard. She changed back and saw that the back entrance to the factory was clear. She slowly approached the back door and walked in with her octoshot ready. As she entered a figure could be watching the sergeant walk into the building. It decided to hop down off the platform it was on and trailed her but kept a distance.

Inside, she saw the factory floor. Multiple octotroopers were assembling octoweapons and building more octoshots for the rebels. "This isn't good, I gotta get a closer look," said the sergeant.

She moved up behind some equipment but didn't notice the figure also hurried behind her and got behind a crate watching her movements. She peered from her cover and watched the tentacled workers and saw octocopters flying above them watching for anything. She then turned and noticed an office overlooking the factory floor to her left. There was an octosniper scanning the area to ensure there were no interruptions.

She moved up again until she got close to the stairs that led up to the office. She got from behind cover and approached the stairs until she was hit in the head from behind. He fell down blacking out noticing a blurry figure approach her from the side. It kneeled down with a couple of octotroopers behind it. The sergeant finally blacked out and everything went quiet.

Hours had passed as the octoling slowly got up and moaned. She shook her head and opened her eyes. The room was dark but she could make out a figure in front of her. "Where am I? Who are you?" she demanded.

The figure approached her. She went into shock to see who it was. It was Obi, the male octoling that was in her recon team that disappeared. "Corporal Obi? What's going on?" she asked.

"I guess you didn't figure it out yet, I've joined octo rebels, I'm the one that alerted the rebels of our coming, I was hoping the octarians would react faster than that back at that square, but a least I managed to catch you," said Obi taking his goggles off.

"What! You traitor! How could you betray us like this!?" demanded the sergeant ready to kill the octoling.

"Don't worry I'll find those other two, this will give you some time to reconsider switching sides," said Obi as started walking away. She attempted to grab him but her leg was chained to a heavy steel ball. Obi walked out of the room and opened a small cutaway on the door. He peered through back at the sergeant. "oh and sergeant, don't even think about escaping, have a good day," said Obi as he closed the cutaway.

She gave the octoling boy a hand gesture as he closed the window. She gave a deep sigh and laid down on the floor only hoping that Melvin and Selena would complete the mission and report back to HQ.

As she laid there, staring at the ceiling, She had thought about all the events that had transpired for the past month. She had contemplated how to get out of her dilemma and feeling regret over getting caught and failing the lieutenant, her only and true friend.


	41. Arc 2 Chapter 26

**Arc 2 Chapter 26**

That night, Deeper in Octo Canyon, the major and some of the octo rebels had gathered up for their next mission: freeing Octavio. The major was briefing her platoon on the plans to get to Octavio and bring him back. Their sources told them that he was being confined in a large snowglobe just outside Octo Valley between the octarian and Inkling territory for pickup by the new octarian regime.

"Let's make haste! Before those traitors take our glorious leader!" shouted the major. "Long live the octo rebels!" shouted the major again.

"Long live the octo rebels!" shouted the unit.

The unit made their way inside an octozeppelin with the major following behind them. As they boarded an octoling rushed down the bay and towards the octozeppelin. She approached the major with a worried expression. "Major, (pant) our octotroopers have spotted intruders in the factory dome. They've reported four octolings that are not in our unit and have killed an octocopter before they fled the scene. We've despatched a wave of octarians to search the area," saluted the octoling.

"What! Find out who they are and interrogate them. I can only assume those turncoats sent a recon team to spy on us after the rig battle. We must hurry and free Octavio before those traitors get to him first. Ensure that they are found and dealt with," jeered the major as she back inside the octoZeppelin for taking off.

"Yes, ma'am," saluted the octoling.

The octozeppelin carrying the rebel platoon lifted off and headed toward the outskirts of Octo Valley without getting attention. The trip was half an hour-long and as the octozeppelin got in the vicinity of inkling territory it hovered down over the edge of the valley and the octarians dismounted. They scanned the area where Octavio was being held and spotted a small shack and soon the snowglobe Octavio was in. A small team broke off from the platoon led by the major and octo jumped on to Cuttlefish's property as they were in range.

"Area clear," said one of the octolings after looking around.

"Alright then, let's hurry and get him out!" commanded the major.

The team approached the giant snowglobe with the sleeping octopus inside. They tapped on the glass as to wake him up. Octavio slowly opened his eyes and jarred awake when he saw the octolings staring at him. "What is this! What's going on?!" asked the confused and shocked Octavio.

"My liege, we're here to free you," said the major.

"Wait! your not retrieval team to bring me back to stand trial in front of the traitorous hipsters!" asked Octavio suspiciously.

"No! We're the octo rebels, we were ordered to free you before those turncoats got here! You are our true leader! DJ Octavio!" said the major as she and the team bowed in front of him.

"Hmm...took you long enough, now hurry and get me out of this accursed glass prison, my tentacles are getting cramp from all this sitting!" commanded Octavio.

"Right away sir," said the major as she directed the octolings to bust the globe. "Cover yourself my liege!" shouted on the octolings.

Octavio looked up and saw what the octoling was about to do. He covered his head with his tentacles and the octoling took her octoshot and busted the top of the globe out.

Once the octoling hopped off and the top of the globe was busted. Octavio swam out and jumped in front of the octoling team. They gave another bow and awaited further orders from their leader.

"Sir! We await your commands!" saluted the major.

Octavio turned looked back toward Inkopolis and narrowed his eyes. "We'll take back our zapfish from those inkling hipsters! Let them live without power for the rest of their life as we had done! The reign of the octarians will rule again and we will soon take their precious city once they have weakened from their powerless city! Assemble the troops to swipe the great zapfish tonight! We will gather our forces and build the great octo weapons again and squish those pathetic inkstains!" commanded Octavio.

"Yes, sir!" saluted the major.

Octavio and the octo rebels were starting to leave when Octavio looked back at Cuttlefish's shack with a glare. "I will return Cuttlefish. You and those hipsters are going to pay for emprisoning me and taking all of our zapfish. Mark my words, you will rule the day, you crossed with me and the octarians!" jeered Octavio as he followed the octolings out of the valley and back to Octo Canyon.

* * *

Cassie left the Square sometime after she couldn't convince Izzy to withdrawal from playing a turf match with Flash and his team. She made her way to the Shellendorf institute to get her mind off things. She had heard that more ancient human relics were found and brought to the institute for study and display.

Inside the Shellendorf Institute, she looked around until she made her way to the human exhibit. She looked at the human fossil like she did before she met Blake. Before she thought humans weren't very intelligent due to their small heads but after meeting Blake her opinion changed. He seemed friendly and supportive after helping her and the squid sisters. She had wished that Blake wasn't the only human around.

Cassie heard a figure approach her and as she looked she saw an older female inkling wearing a school outfit with glasses. Her purple tentacles were rolled up in a bun behind her head. "So I'm guessing you're fascinated with humans too," said the inkling girl.

"Well, maybe a little, my name's Cassie by the way," said Cassie.

"Mine's Megan pleased to meet you," said Megan shaking Cassie's hand. "Yeah, I've always been fascinated with humans, though I questioned what happened to them," said Megan looking at the fossil.

"Yeah, it's a...shame their's none left," said Cassie hiding her acknowledgment of Blake.

"Well, the institute recently came across some books that are in great condition even though they are in human writing," said Megan.

"really? what kind of books?" asked Cassie with curiosity.

"I'm not so sure but one of the books has really piqued our interest. It seems to be some kind of book on human biology. By the diagrams and pictures it seems humans are that much different from inklings and octolings, well minus the ink and us not having bones." said Megan.

"You don't mind if I take a look do you?" asked Cassie.

"Sure, I don't mind," said Megan.

The two of them walked over toward another exhibit housing many other artifacts left behind by humans that once populated the earth. an old cellphone, game system, and other things. She soon saw the books Megan was talking about. Megan grabbed one of them that had the words human biology on it.

"Here you go, just remember to put it back, You won't be able to read it but by the pictures in it, it seems like a biology book for humans," said Megan before she walked away.

Callie scrolled through the book and examined the pictures. The writing was human and diagrams showed different body systems of humans. The skeletal system, Muscular system, and the organs. "Fascinating, It doesn't seem that humans aren't too different from us after all," said Cassie as she scrolled to the next page. She saw a picture of a naked male human and turned red after examining him and seeing the reproductive system. She quickly turned to the next page. "Yep, we're not much different," said Cassie with her redness going away.

She placed the book back and thought that some of that information may come in handy if Blake were to get hurt again like back on the Saltspray Rig.

Cassie started to walk away from the exhibit as something caught her eye around the corner. There was a curtained off area with movement behind it. Her curiosity got the best of her and walked over toward it. She peered around it and saw Megan with some other inklings in lab coats looking over the cryostasis pod Blake had come out of.

"Well, what's the verdict?" asked Megan to the inklings.

"We have not come to a conclusion on what it is, even after all this time. I know after the incident a month ago we concluded that it housed a human. We found unknown DNA inside it that doesn't match in other oceanic based life forms. We've been studying this thing two weeks no and haven't made much headway. This is the most advanced piece of human technology we've dug up," said one of the inklings.

"I'm sure it was human too, but where could've it gone off too. That's the real question beyond this pod thing," said Megan.

"Not to change the subject, but have you heard anything from your sister Cleo, wasn't she doing some digging on..." said the inkling but was cut off by Megan.

"Quiet! That is not supposed to be brought up! Besides, she's in intensive care right now, I going to go check on her soon. I'm thankful for the ones that rescued her, to think she was tortured by those bastards," said Megan.

"Wait! Cleo's her sister? The same Cleo that was tortured by Camper's gang?" said Cassie as she turned away behind the curtain out of sight.

"Ma'am look at this!" said one of the inklings as Cassie turned to peek around the curtain to see what was going on. The inkling was pointing at an emblem on the hatch just above the small glass window.

"It appears to be the Kamabo emblem but the writing below it is clearly human," said the inkling.

"Huh?" said Megan as she looked. "Wait, why wasn't this noticed before?" asked Megan.

"Then this would make it Namabo property, wouldn't it? The company you and your sister have been working with?" asked another inkling.

"Kamabo is not supposed to exist but yes we've being doing some work with them. We had too and besides that, they've been funding our archeological research and support the peace treaty among the inkling and Octarians. Not sure why but that information is not to leave this institute," explained Megan.

"Kamabo?" asked Cassie to herself still hiding.

"For right now the pod will stay in the Shellendorf Institute. I'll see if their's any way I can get a hold of C.Q. Cumber on this, he's been the only person I've ever got in contact with matters involving this mysterious company," said Megan.

The inklings examined the pod further while Megan walked away out of sight.

"Hmm...maybe I should talk with Cuttlefish about this. He did find Blake in that pod years ago. Maybe he'll no something about this," said Cassie as she walked away from the curtain and out of Shellendorf Institute.

It soon turned to night and Cassie was back in her apartment in Flounder Heights. Izzy never made it back from the match and Cassie was worried where Izzy was. She decided not to call her and just headed to bed. She was focused on Megan and this Kamabo company she was working with and why they were so fixated on the pod Blake came out of. "Could they be after Blake too?" Cassie thought to herself. She planned on heading to Cuttlefish's in the morning and see if he knew anything. The inkling girl finally drifted asleep eager for the next day to come and hoping Izzy was ok.

* * *

In Calamari County back at the Inn. Blake was lying on his bed dreaming of him and Mimi. He had a hard night's sleep thinking about his last interaction with Mimi. He was deciding whether or not to go see her before him and the squid sisters left for Inkopolis. He decided to leave well enough alone giving Mimi time for comfort not wanting to risk to make things worse. He rolled over and attempted to fall asleep but couldn't.

"I sometimes wish...that I was never found in that pod. Then maybe I would be with my family instead of this world I'm in right now. Speaking of my family, I haven't had any more visions for quite a while. (sigh)" said Blake to himself. He finally fell asleep after a while of dwelling in thought.

Much of the night Blake fought to stay asleep until the following morning came. As the sunlight beamed through the window. Blake slowly opened his eyes. They were red with dark marks around them. He was very groggy and fought to sit up. He rubbed them and looked around the room, unanxious to get up.

In the meantime, Callie and Marie were still asleep. After a moment Callie woke up and stretched, she got out of bed and wanted to go check on Blake. She stayed as quiet as she could be not to wake Marie up and left the room making her way to Blake's.

After a while, she headed down the hall to the room Blake was staying in and knocked on the door. There was no response as she knocked again and still no answer. She was starting to get worried. Callie then decided to pull out a credit card and slide it into the door lock and eventually got it to open. She very slowly opened the door. Inside she seen no sign of him and even checked the bedroom. "Where is he? I hope something didn't happen," said Callie quietly starting to get concerned.

Just then the bathroom door opened with steam billowing out. She turned and looked and saw a nude figure walk out toweling themselves off. Callie was frozen, as she stared at Blake who had just gotten out of the shower to wake himself up. Callie's golden eyes just stayed locked on Blake as she couldn't fight the urge to look away with her beet-red face and mouth open. Blake turned and looked toward Callie and after a delayed reaction, Callie jarred to her senses while Blake yelped and rushed to cover himself.

"AAHH! C...C...Callie! What are you doing in my room!" shouted Blake in utter shock.

"Oh, my cod! I'm so sorry! I knocked on your door but you didn't answer. I was worried! I wasn't perving out! I swear!" exclaimed Callie waving her arms and turning her head away. She hurried to get out of the room while Blake got into his clothes.

"Alright, Callie, You can come in now!" said Blake after a moment. Callie walked back inside the room looking down hiding her blush.

After their awkward moment, Callie had asked what was wrong with Blake. Blake started with a long sigh and told what had happened with him and Mimi. After the conversation, Callie was stewing with different emotions and what Blake had said about him being a human and not wanting to hook up with an inkling. Callie had her arms crossed in her lap looking down.

Blake got up and walked into his bedroom to finish getting ready. Callie walked in behind him after a moment. Blake turned toward her with an uneasy expression. "Callie, if you and Marie want to stay, then you guys can. I'm going to go ahead and leave to head back to Cuttlefish's. After what happened last night I can't bear to stay here anymore. It's just a grim reminder of the past experiences and me and Mimi's falling out," said Blake.

"Blake, you need to let go of the past. I hate seeing you like this. Please stay for me and Marie," pleaded Callie.

"Callie...I can't, it's just..." started Blake as he was cut off by Callie hugging him. Blake accepted the gesture and hugged her back when all of a sudden footsteps could be heard running toward the door.

Marie flew open the door and gave Callie and Blake a serious look but then her expression changed when she saw Callie and Blake pull off from their hug. "Um...I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but gramps has just called! Octavio has escaped!" exclaimed Marie.

"WHAT!" shouted Callie and Blake.

"We gotta get back to Inkopolis right away! Get all your stuff together! We're leaving!" shouted Marie before she headed back to her room.

Blake and Callie looked at each other. "Well, maybe we should talk again another time," said Callie.

"Yeah, let's focus on getting back, I don't wanna keep Cuttlefish waiting," said Blake as Callie nodded and rushed back to Marie to get her things.

Blake grabbed his backpack and walked out of his room in his disquise toward the Inn lobby. Thoughts were racing through his head about Mimi and Octavio's escape. The three of them met up and headed to the tram station just outside of the village. It was a long quiet trip back to Inkopolis as Blake stayed to himself with Callie and Marie focused on getting back to their grandfather to figure out how to stop Octavio.

* * *

The same morning Cassie woke up earlier than usual dwelling on the fact Izzy never made it back. She decided to leave her a message and make her way to Cuttlefish's. She made it to the plaza when she got a phone call. She was hoping it was Izzy but it showed up as Cuttlefish. Cassie was curious why Cuttlefish was already calling her.

"Hello, hey Captain, I was just headed your way, I..." said Cassie as she answered her phone. But her expression changed as Cuttlefish explained to her that Octavio had escaped.

"What! How! I'll be right there captain!" exclaimed Cassie as she hung up and squid formed down the drain grate.

She raced to Cuttlefish's as fast as she could down the tunnel and made it to the other storm drain on the other side. There, she headed towards the shack but no answer. A figure caught her eye where Octavio's snowglobe was. It was Cuttlefish examining the broken globe as he pushed the pieces of glass out of the way with his cane. "Cuttlefish?" said Cassie running behind him.

"Lass? glad your here. I've done called my grandsquids, they'll get here as quick as they can," said Cuttlefish as he turned around facing Cassie.

"Cuttlefish, how did he get out? I thought he couldn't bust out of that snowglobe," said Cassie.

"He could've gotten out on his own. Look! They're boot prints around the snowglobe leading from the canyon. He had to have help from those octolings and rushed out of here before they got caught," said Cuttlefish pointing at the tracks with his cane.

Cassie kneeled down studying the boot prints. "This has to be the work of the octo rebels, they're the only ones I would think of that would wanna free Octavio," said Cassie.

"This is unsettling news, Lass. We gotta find them before anything happens." said a concerned Cuttlefish.

"Not to change matters Cuttlefish but when I was at the Shellendorf Institute yesterday evening. This inkling met up with me. Her name was Megan, she seemed nice but I overheard some commotion behind this covered up area in the human exhibit before I was going to leave. It was her and a bunch of inklings in lab coats. They were studying Blake's pod and one of them pointed out to an emblem on the hatch. They said it looked like the Kamabo logo. Do you know if Blake knows anything about this?" asked Cassie.

"Kamabo? I've heard that name somewhere but I'm not too sure lass," said a puzzled Cuttlefish. "Maybe we can ask Bucko when he gets here," said Cuttlefish.

"When will they be here?" asked Cassie hastily.

"They should be here soon, I'm willing to bet that..." said Cuttlefish as he was cut off by a noise emitting from the ledge of the cliff toward Octo Valley.

The noise got louder and a large floating object appeared in front of them over the ledge. It was DJ Octavio in his hovering DJ booth. The Octobot king.

"OCTAVIO!" shouted both Cassie and Cuttlefish as they froze in fear from Octavio's presence.

"That's DJ Octavio to you hipsters! and I've come here to take back what rightfully belongs to the octarians and get my revenge!" roared Octavio. "Meet the new and improved Octobot King Mk2. Let's see you get yourself out of this one Agent 3!" shouted Octavio as he launched one his fists down toward the two of them.

Cassie grabbed Cuttlefish and the two dove out of the way. The fist hit the ground and recoiled back to the Octobot King Mk2. "Hmpf...pesky inkstains! Get them my army!" commanded Octavio as the octo rebels jumped out of nowhere and attempted to surround Cassie and Cuttlefish.

Cassie held her Hero shot and was ready for a showdown with the octolings. "Captain! Get out of here! I'll hold them off!" shouted Cassie.

Cuttlefish nodded and squid formed back toward the shack while Cassie was staring down at the rebel octolings. "Alright, little hipster! It's time for you to turn into a puddle of ink!" shouted Octavio.

"Sir! What about the old geezer!?" asked the major who was riding with Octavio.

"I'll deal with him after the Agent is splatted!" replied Octavio.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake and the squid sisters hopped off the tram as soon as they got back to the plaza. The three of them rushed to the studio to grab their gear and weapons fearing Octavio may come back. Callie filled Blake's Ink tank up before they ran out of the studio. Afterward, they headed to the storm drain and rushed down the tunnel, though Callie and Marie were in their squid form leaving Blake behind.

"Wait, were leaving Blake!" exclaimed Callie.

"Their's no time, I'm sure he'll catch up, Cal," said Marie as they continued on with Blake running to keep up.

As soon as the two got there they changed back and saw Octavio and the octo rebels on the other side of the landmass they were on. "Oh no! Octavio's back! Cassie! They're about to!" shouted Callie panicking.

"No their not!" shouted Marie as she rushed toward them aiming her hero charger at the octolings.

Cassie was frozen and unsure of what to do. She was surrounded and knew if she started shooting she was a goner until one of the octolings burst into green ink. "Huh!" shouted some of the octolings they looked and saw Marie firing at them. Cassie took this moment to splat two more octolings and squid formed to jump away. Callie headed toward Cuttlefish spotting him taking cover by his shack. "Gramps! Are you ok!" shouted Callie as she rushed by his side.

"Callie! I'm glad you two made it! Where's Bucko?" asked Cuttlefish. Just ten Blake pushed the grate off the drain and hopped out. Callie and Cuttlefish spotted him and signaled toward him. "Blake!" shouted Callie as Blake over towards them.

"Bucko! I finally glad you made it, we gotta stop Octavio and those octolings before they get away!" exclaimed a frantic Cuttlefish.

Marie was still shooting octolings while Callie jumped beside her and shot a couple as well.

"Blasted Ink stains!" shouted Octavio as he launched a fist toward Cassie and Marie. They both dove out of the way and evaded the giant fist.

"They need our help!" shouted Callie as she rushed toward the two.

"Callie wait! It's too dangerous!" shouted Blake as he tailed her with Cuttlefish following behind.

Another wave of octo rebels jumped in with the major pointing at Blake and the inklings. "Deal with them!" she shouted.

The four of them with Cuttlefish standing back charged at the octo rebels and shot at them with their weapons. Blake and Marie picked off as many Octolings as they could and Cassie jumped up in the air lobbing a splat bomb at some of them. Meanwhile, Callie swung her roller down on them when she got close enough. The skirmish went on for minutes before Octavio spotted Cuttlefish off to the side taking cover behind a tree. "There's that old hipster, it's time to finish business," jeered Octavio as he hovered over toward Cuttlefish with the major.

Octavio pulled behind Cuttlefish with a malicious gaze. "Cuttlefish!" shouted the giant octopus. Cuttlefish turned around and saw the towering Octopus on his floating DJ bot. "It's time for you to come with me!" jeered Octavio.

"Bring it on you old has been!" shouted a fearless Cuttlefish waving his cane.

Callie turned and saw Octavio facing her grandfather as well as the rest of them. "Gramps!" shouted Callie as she rushed over towards him.

"Oh no, Captain!" shouted Blake running toward Cuttlefish.

Just as Octavio launched his fist to grab Cuttlefish. Callie jumped in front of him and got caught by the fist. "AAAHHH!" shouted Callie as she was grabbed.

"CALLIE!" shouted Blake, Marie, and Cassie at the same time.

"Hmpf...I guess I'll have to settle with one of your grandkids instead, Cuttlefish!" roared Octavio as Callie was struggling to get out of the fist.

"Forget it squid! You're not squirming out of this one! Not to mention this is the one has a real knack for the fossil," said the major to Octavio.

"Oh really," said Octavio as he glared at Blake. Blake was clutching his bamboozler wanting to shot at the giant Octopus.

"Well, fossil! If you and those hipsters wanna see your damsel in distress back! Then you're not to interfere with our operations and don't you dare try and stop us or I'll squeeze the ink right out of her! We're taking back what rightly belongs to us! The zapfish! Let's see you inkstains live without power and the precious turf wars that you use to celebrate the great turf war that we lost!" jeered Octavio as him and the major floated over toward the valley.

"Octavio! Bring back, Callie! She has nothing to do with this!" yelled Blake enraged.

"Blake...Marie...help!" yelped Callie who was being squeezed.

"CALLIE! NOOOO!" yelled Marie with tears forming.

Octavio, the major, and the remaining octolings jumped out of sight and made their way back to Octo canyon by the Octozeppelin waiting for their return.

Blake threw his bamboozler and punched the ground. "Dammit Octavio!" jeered an angry Blake.

Marie was sitting on the ground crying while Cassie was clutching her hero shot.

"Bucko! We'll get her back! But we gotta think of a plan!" exclaimed Cuttlefish running by his side.

"(sigh) So...what do we do? You heard Octavio. If we try and stop them... I don't want Callie getting killed," said Blake.

"Me neither Bucko, but we can't be rash about this!" exclaimed Cuttlefish.

Marie soon walked over wiping her tears. "Marie, don't worry we'll get her back," said Cuttlefish putting his hand on her shoulder.

Cassie then walked over with her anger resolving. "Lass, you said something about Kamabo?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Yeah, I did but what does that have to do with what had just happened?" asked Cassie unsure of why he was asked that.

"Let's all just head over to the shack and access the situation. We need to clear our heads and think of a plan. There's no sense in just chasing after Octavio and them octo rebels," said Cuttlefish sternly as he tapped his cane.

The four of them headed over inside Cuttlefish's shack, trying to recover from the emotional scars of losing Callie to Octavio and the rebels. Marie was sitting on the couch still consoling over her cousin. Cassie was leaned up against the wall near the door and Blake was standing near Cuttlefish with his arms crossed feeling remorse for not saving the inkling that loved him.

"Alright, here's the plan squidos and Bucko. Marie..." said Cuttlefish as Marie turned toward him with an indifferent look. "I'm appointing you commander of the squidbeak squad. You've been a trusted agent and shown nothing but courage and leadership out in the field. That's why I'm appointing you for this position," said Cuttlefish.

"But gramps, what about you?" asked Marie.

"I'm getting to that. Which brings me to the topic from before. This Kamabo," said Cuttlefish as he turned toward Cassie. "You said that the pod Blake was in had this Kamabo logo on it?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Yeah, that's what that inkling at the institute said and that she was working with them," said Cassie.

Cuttlefish then turned toward Blake. "Bucko, Do you know anything about this Kamabo, the name sounds familiar," asked Cuttlefish.

"Kamabo... Kamabo, wait...I think I do," said Blake reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the old ID he had on him from when he showed to Cuttlefish and Octavio when they first met him.

"Yeah, Captain. Look it's on the back of this card, but...this doesn't make any sense. Why would that pod have this logo on and how the heck is a company from over 2000 years ago still around?" asked Blake who was shocked and confused.

"I'm not sure lad, but me and the agent lass are going to do some investigating. If they're interested in that pod, then they're interested in you. I don't want a repeat of what happened between you and those misfits and rebels from before. We need to find out more about this," said Cuttlefish.

"Captain, the inkling from the museum said her sister was the one we rescued from Camper's hideout, If she recovers maybe she'd be willing to tell us something," said Cassie.

"I hope so, We'll see if she'd be willing to talk," said Cuttlefish. "But, before we all leave, there is one more crucial thing that needs to be done," said Cuttlefish as the three of them looked at him with seriousness.

"We need to recruit more agents. This operation is going to be too much for all of us, especially since Marie will be commanding the squad and the agent lass and me are going to be snooping for information about Kamabo," said Cuttlefish.

"Gramps, we don't have time or the resources to recruit anyone into the squidbeak. You might have nominated me as commander but I can hold my own. I'll go after Octavio and save Callie," insisted Marie.

"No! You're not doing this alone! That's why I'm reinstating or should I say you're reinstating Blake back into the Squidbeak squad," said Cuttlefish as he tapped his cane.

"What!" shouted both Blake and Marie. "Captain! I'm not sure if I'm tasked to do this. I mean look what happened before, what Octavio did to me. I'm not sure..." said Blake as he cut off by Cuttlefish tapping his cane.

"Bucko! I know you're more than qualified for this. Your perhaps the wittiest and strongest agent I've ever had. Look at everything you've done before. Back during the great turf war. You saved Mimi and Me. You faced unbeatable odds and got me and the squidbeak out of that jam in the village. You stopped Octavio's right hand and stood up to that jaded octopus back on the floating valley. You survived that plummet in the pod. Lad, I wouldn't be doing this If I knew you weren't more than capable," said Cuttlefish.

Blake looked at Cuttlefish and gave him a salute. "Yes, Captain...I would be more than happy to rejoin the squidbeak," said Blake.

"Thank you lad, I knew you accept this offer and save my grandsquid," said Cuttlefish.

"Gramps, one question. How is Blake going to catch Octavio? He's not an inkling. He can't squid form or jump or shoot ink. He may be a human with little effect over the ink, but with him going to Octo Canyon. How will he travel through all those floating platforms and stuff, not to mention shoot down those tea kettles?" asked Cassie.

"That brings me to my next point, We'll have no choice but to reveal him to Sheldon and your friend," said Cuttlefish turning toward Cassie.

"Sheldon?" asked a dumbfounded Cassie.

"Yes, we need to get the lad some gear and find a way for Sheldon to build some gadgets to complete these feats if Bucko is going to go down to Octo canyon," said Cuttlefish. "If that little horseshoe crab is like his grandfather, then I know he can do it," said Cuttlefish.

"Wait, you said friend?" said Cassie still puzzled.

"The lass you've been hanging with, the one that came to Inkopolis to play in them turf war games," said Cuttlefish.

"Wait...Izzy! But she's just now started competing! Now you want her to join the Squidbeak Squad!" exclaimed a shocked Cassie that Cuttlefish would even recruit her.

"That's right, she was with you when you rescued that lass from them, misfits. She sounds like a brave one and she already knows that you're an agent. I'm sure she'd be glad to join since you've helped her out and she seems to look up to you lass," said Cuttlefish.

"But, she can't handle being an agent! I mean..." said Cassie as she was cut off by Cuttlefish placing his hand out.

"Lass, we'll train her and get her situated. Don't chu worry and I think it's time for her to meet Blake. It's just a matter of time until she finds him out," said Cuttlefish as Cassie was distressed with the situation.

"Alright, then it's settled. Cassie, I want you to recruit Izzy and bring her up to speed of what's going on and we'll train the lass when we can. Blake, I want you to report back here in the morning for your initiation and to get with Marie to go and see Sheldon about some gear and hopefully build something to help you get through Octo Canyon. Marie, like I was telling Bucko about getting with Sheldon and also you will not be going out into the field," directed Cuttlefish.

"What! But why?" asked a shocked Marie.

"I want you to hang back at the shack at Mt. Nantai and direct the squidbeak agents on what to do. Stay in contact with them through the squidcoms they'll be given. I don't want to lose you grandsquid. You're perhaps the most clear-headed person here to be tasked with getting Blake and Cass's friend trough the canyon," said Cuttlefish.

Marie gave a sigh and nodded at Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish then turned toward the group and tapped his cane. "So, we all know what to do," said Cuttlefish as the rest of them nodded in understanding.

For the rest of the day. Cassie headed back to her apartment to see if she could get a hold of Izzy. Blake and Marie headed back to the plaza to go over the plans for the following day. Cuttlefish stayed at the shack and prayed that things would go over well for the squidbeak squad and the safety of Callie. It's unsure as of now if Izzy and Flash's team beat the pink team at the turf war match and Sergeant Maxie and her team were still trapped in Octo Canyon.

Only time will tell if Blake is ready for the task at hand and that he would defeat Octavio and get Callie back. Let's see how this will play out in the next Arc.

End of Arc. See you next time.


	42. Arc 3 Important Notice

**Arc 3 Important Notice**

To all readers and followers. I'm sure you all now that with the end of Arc 2 who've all concluded the next Arc will be based off the Splatoon 2 story mode and it will be. Though for all those Splatoon fans the Arc 3 narrative has been greatly altered from the original story of Splatoon 2. I've never played the game but have watched videos on the story mode so locations will not be the same but instead I've blended locations and missions from Fallout 4 to this story. How I see it, making the story from the original game would not be any fun.

Going on to the focus of the narrative. Callie had been squidnapped by Octavio and the rebels back to Octo Canyon. The revelation on Kamabo has surfaced. A mysterious human-based company that had somehow survived the flood and with its motives unknown. This causes Cuttlefish to very leery of this company, being they were the one's that created the pod Blake was in and why are two inklings (Megan and Cleo) working for them. Cuttlefish then decided to go on a mission to find out the answers and take Cassie (Agent 3) along with him. This causes Marie to take command of the squidbeak squad and reinstate Blake to rejoin the squidbeak since Cassie will be absent. Not enough that Blake will have to go to Octo Canyon to rescue Callie and stop DJ Octavio. Izzy will also be reinstated as an agent as well. She will soon be Agent 4 and partner up with Blake as they fight the octo rebels.

In the story, since Blake is a human. He will have to rely on Sheldon Shellendorf to construct gadgets and weapons that will allow him to navigate through Octo Canyon and fight the rebels. Izzy will have to train and gain the courage to battle the octarian menace before she goes to the canyon herself. This story will be full of action, drama, and suspense. Like I said the Arc will be unpredictable and the story will delve deep into the motives of both the octo rebels and the Kamabo company.

As Cuttlefish and Cassie uncover the truth behind the Kamabo company. These events will be nothing more than a prelude to Arc 4 which will be based on Octo Expansion and reveal the origins of the inklings and octarians. Blake will uncover the fate of his family and how the Kamabo company has survived all this time. Also, brand new characters will be revealed in the middle of the Arc that are neither inklings nor octolings. These characters are embroiled in their own war with an unknown force that threatens them and their livelihoods at a location that's across the ocean, miles away from the inkling and octoling territory.

There are many twists and turns in this arc that will lead to the narrative of Arc 4, the Arc that will be a gamechanger of the story and will possibly take a toll on Blake's view of the world he now inhabits and the friends he made. Only time will tell what will happen to Blake and everyone else. Hope you enjoy the story and don't be afraid to leave comments and reviews. I enjoy people reading my story and I hope to improve my writing skills as I go.

**Character Synopsis**

**Blake Carter (Agent 0)**

**Age: 16 found, currently 18 (over 2000 if you want to get technical)**

A human with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. He is the age 18 but was 16 when he was found in the pod by Cuttlefish and Octavio. He was frozen in time after he crashed into the ocean after escaping Director Irons off the Ark Polaris. Since then he had to adapt to the new world now inhabited by creatures known as Inklings and Octolings, including the octarians and other oceanic-humanoid creatures. He fought alongside Cuttlefish in the great turf war to stop Octavio and the octarians from enslaving and taking the inklings territory only to be thrown back into the pod he was frozen and found in. A hundred years pass and yet is having to adapt and overcome the new world again but meets new characters along the way and is placed in a dire situation where he is seen as a valuable asset for a new threat, the octo rebels. He is saved by the squid sisters (Cuttlefish's granddaughters), Cassie, another agent in the squidbeak squad, and an octoling sergeant by the name of Maxie who has been fighting against the octo rebels along with the new Octarian government.

**Callie (Agent 1)**

**Age: 18**

Callie is one of the squid sisters, a pop duo that gave the Inkopolis News and spectated the turf war games for the inklings. She is taller than average inklings and has black and magenta long tentacles and gold eyes with x-shaped pupils. She is Agent 1 of the squidbeak squad and is the most outspoken and energetic of the pop duo. They both got their career start in Calamari County. Since then their popularity rose and the two soon found a place in Inkopolis. After defeating Octavio with Marie and Cassie, they settled down and returned to their music career only to be replaced with new talent. This put the two in an uneasy position, whether or not to decide if they should head back to Calamari County only to discover Blake when they headed to their grandfather's. Overtime Callie developed a huge crush on Blake and has expressed her feelings for him even though Blake didn't feel the same way though she is still persistent and hopeful that Blake may have a change of heart.

**Marie (Agent 2)**

**Age: 18**

Marie is the other squid sister of the pop duo. Like Callie, she is taller than most inklings and has grey and green short tentacles, Her eyes like Callie's, are gold with x-shaped pupils. She is more serious and reserved compared to Callie. She had shown to more clear-minded in the most dangerous situations and has always looked after her cousin. She shares the same story as her cousin getting her start in Calamari County and making their way to Inkopolis to continue their music career and spectating the turf war games. After the defeat of Octavio, she and her cousin settled back down only to realize they would soon be replaced by Off the Hook. She met Blake like Callie and was cautious of him being a human, not knowing much about him. Over time, she realized how much of a compassionate and selfless person he was and admired him as a friend and even family, seeing him as a brother she never had, unlike Callie who wanted to form a relationship with him.

**Cassie (Agent 3)**

**Age: Recently turned 17**

Cassie is a cunning and resourceful agent that was recruited when the octarians stole the great zapfish from two years ago. She is an average inkling girl with green long tentacles with violet-colored eyes. She started off as your average inkling seeking recognition in the turf war games when she turned 14 years of age. She climbed through the ranks until she met Ross aka Camper. She joined his team seeing him as more experienced and soon fell in love with him. She learned of his underhanded schemes of cheating and bribery to continue climbing up the ranks and winning the splatfests. She turned him in which also cost her the tournament as well. Since then she would never compete in the turf wars anymore but was soon recruited by Cuttlefish due to her experience and demeanor. She defeated Octavio and the octarians, getting the great zapfish back and imprisoning the octarian leader. 2 years passed and Cassie was soon pulled for another mission: finding and catching Blake (known as the creature back then) and investigate what the octarians wanted with him. Overtime after his reveal she warmed up to him and like Marie admired him for his character and skills.

**Izzy (Agent 4)**

**Age: 16**

Izzy came to Inkopolis like Cassie. She was interested in competing in the turf wars which inklings revolved their livelihood around. Unlike Cassie her tentacles are short and yellow colored with eyes to match them. She made friends with Cassie and the two soon got caught up with a conspiracy to capture Blake by Camper and his gang. Izzy is pulled into a dangerous situation that she never asked for and realized that Cassie is a squidbeak agent. After being rescued and recovering from all the past events she is eager to stay friends with Cassie and is greatly fascinated by her being an agent. She continues on pursuing her goal of being a turfer after things have settled down.

**Cuttlefish**

**Age: 120**

Cuttlefish or Capt'n Cuttlefish is the founder and leader of the squidbeak squad formerly squidbeak platoon back from the war. He is an elderly inkling with faded tan tentacles and a beard with bulging brown eyes. He wears tattered clothes and carried a walking bamboo cane to support himself. He found Blake in the cryopod along with Octavio before the great turf war and have been close friends since, even seeing one another as brothers. They fought alongside one another during the great turf war and after seeing Blake fall to his death by the hands of Octavio he lived in solitude for most of his life. He reformed the squidbeak agency after the great zapfish was stolen by the octarians. After the defeat of Octavio he imprisoned him in a giant snow globe and waited for the octarians to retaliate. 2 years pass and Blake is found at his doorstep and Cuttlefish is overwhelmed by mixed emotions seeing his former friend alive. After the events of the Saltspray Rig he and Cassie uncover the truth of Kamabo and their intentions. He entrusts Marie with the command of the squidbeak squad and commands her to reinstate Blake back into the squidbeak squad.

**Octavio**

**Age: 120**

Like Cuttlefish, before they were once friends before the great turf war to newfound enemies during. Octavio like Cuttlefish found Blake in the cryopod and became friends. Their friendship soured at the start of the war and saw Blake as a threat like Cuttlefish. At the end of the war, he threw Blake in the pod and pushed him off the flying landmass to his death ensuring his demise for siding with Cuttlefish. After the war though he and the octarians were banished underground where they would live in isolation and power dependence for a period of time. It is uncertain what caused Octavio to retain his new octopus form but his lust for revenge consumed him and he plotted to steal the great zapfish and enslave the inklings once again. He was defeated by the squidbeak and captured for his crimes. After the octo rebels were unable to get the human they were ordered to free Octavio to further their agenda and he caught Callie as leverage to hold over the inklings and Blake.

**Pearl**

**Age: 21**

Pearl is a very short inkling with white and pink short tentacles. She sports a crown on her head and has gold eyes with X-shaped pupils similar to the squid sisters. Like the squid sisters her career started in Calamari County during the folk singing contest. Her voice was found to be dangerous but she didn't let that stop her so she found a way to control it. She was getting nowhere by herself and needed a partner, she found Marina. The two hit it off and told each other about their backstories and soon put in for performing at Inkopolis to be offered a position to replace the squid sisters. Pearl is considered prideful, critical, and irrational. She never sees anything else beyond her own personal viewpoints and is ofter confronted by Marina on this who still enjoys her company. She is the vocalist of the pop duo off the hook and is also Marie's cousin.

**Marina**

**Age: 18**

Marina the exact opposite of Pearl's personality is an octoling and the DJ for Off the hook. She has long black and teal tentacles with teal-colored eyes with hourglass-shaped pink pupils. She is tall for an octoling often making Pearl feel short and insignificant. She has a checkered past when she was an engineer in Octavio's army. After hearing Calamari Inkantation her view changed and she left for the surface world deserting the army and desiring to start a new life above. She met pearl not too long after and even though she was an octoling, pearl saw her as different as they became friends with one another. Since then, they started the pop duo Off the hook. Unlike Pearl, she is compassionate, selfless, and understanding of others. Her and Pearl both helped Izzy and rescued Cleo from Camper and his gang. Though she is still hiding something from everyone and has been staying in contact with a mysterious group about the discovery of Blake.

**Maxie**

**Age: Recently turned 20**

Maxie is a sergeant in the neo-octarian army. She is an octoling with red-colored tentacles and green eyes. Her backstory remains a mystery but was practically raised by the octarian army under Octavio. She was mentored by an elite who she once considered her friend. After they were conflicted by one another's outlooks on the peace treaty they brokered off and found themselves on opposite sides of the board. Since then she had made it her sworn duty to stop her and the rebels to ensure peace even though she still holds animosities toward the inklings. She was sent on a mission to intercept the rebel's activities and retrieve the pod instead of them but the operation was foiled. She was then tasked with leading a platoon of neo-octarian soldiers to attack the Saltspray rig and stop the octarians from retrieving Blake and taking him back to Octo Canyon. During the mission she is saved by the human and a bond is formed with him though she is conflicted by her inner feelings and tries to reason with her emotions and reminds herself that she is a soldier. She leaves back for Octo Valley disappointed that Blake left with the inklings and faces a disgruntled lieutenant, her superior and closest friend. She is yet again sent on a mission to stop the rebels inside the canyon to only be compromised by one of her team members since then she has continued on, eager to stop the activities of the rebels. team or not.

**Camper**

**Age: 19**

Camper also known as Ross, is the leader of the Inkopolis Crime Syndicate. A band of inkling misfits comprised of turfers that cheated or were banned from playing in turf games as well as thieves that stole money and weapons or illegal weapon smugglers. Camper is a male inkling with red tentacles put in a ponytail. His eyes are orange and donned a skull mask that covered his mouth concealing some of his identity. As explained, he was an experienced turf war player and met Cassie during one of the splatfests. They eventually hooked up but he was soon turned in to the authorities for cheating and bribery for the splat tournament. They broke off and Camper left and disappeared to never be heard from again for some time until he formed a posse known as the ICS until they grew into a full street gang. They committed petty to organized crime and have laid low deep under Inkopolis until a job came up to steal the uncovered cryopod that was dug up at piranha pit containing Blake by the octo rebels. He failed to get the pod but later captured Blake instead, intending to turn him over to the rebels and receive his payment. His plans were foiled by the squidbeak and he was subdued and turned over to the police.

**The Major**

**Age: 25**

The commander of the rebels and another antagonist besides Camper. She was a former friend now turned adversary to the sergeant. She has black tentacles with kelp stalks protruding out of them like all elite octolings. Her eyes are green with purple irises due to still showing allegiance to Octavio and the effects of the underground poor lighting conditions and chemicals. She refused to accept the peace treaty and saw the neo-octarians as sellouts and turncoats. Her and the other octarians that refused to adhere to the treaty and rebeled but were pushed out of the valley and into the canyon. They vowed to attack the inklings and the neo-octarians once their goals were met. Their mission from the red queen their so-called new ruler was to capture Blake and get inside the vault. A mysterious underground area of the domes that had been built and sealed by humans from long ago. They attempted to make a deal with Camper and his gang and captured the human later but all their plans failed and they had to fall back to the canyon to reassess their goals.


	43. Arc 3 Chapter 1

**Arc 3 Chapter 1**

It was black and cold. There was nothing but fear and uncertainty running through the mind of a figure that had just witnessed the events that had just transpired in front of them. The figure was gasping for breath, struggling to stay alive wondering if this was their last moments. Then a noise could be heard and everything seemed to stop. The fluid they were fighting in drew down and emptied out of the container they were thrown in. As the fluid had emptied out of their containment they gasped for breath and slowly opened their eyes.

They slowly opened their eyes and looked around. Their vision was still blurred and the figure grabbed their head wondering what had happened. It could make out figures staring through the glass containment at them.

"What? What's going? Why do I feel funny?" The figure asked itself.

They raised their hands and examined them. The figure was shocked and confused about what had happened. They looked over to three more glass containers that were holding figures in them. Their expression became even more fearful as they studied the figures.

"Lisa? Amy? Brandon?" asked the figure.

"So...you still remember them?" said a figure in a black suit as he approached the glass. "Do you remember me too James?" asked the man in the suit.

"Irons, this is incredible, I never would've thought the serum would have this much of effect on them but I never expected these results," said a man in a lab coat.

"Incredible? This is a disaster! This is not the result I wanted! I want the serum to be modified! Please tell me this is not the outcome of mankind once we land back down on earth!" shouted the man in the suit angrily.

We followed the formula just as you asked! Something must've gone wrong," said the man in the lab coat.

"It must have been Tartar. We should've never trusted that AI program to concoct the serum into the cryostasis support systems. We should shut it down while we can before the serum is released to the rest of the populace on this ship!" shouted another man in a lab coat.

"Don't start pointing fingers! Tartar is not to blame for this! I just want another serum made now! Time is of the essence!" shouted back Director Irons.

"Y...Yes sir!" the men said.

Director Irons turned back to the unrecognized figure that was once Doctor James Carter. James was still in absolute shock of what had happened to him and his family and Brandon.

"Irons, what do we do with them?" asked the professor.

"Dispose of them," said Irons coldly.

As all the events had come to an end. Everything started to fade to black. Nothing but silence for a moment.

Blake jarred awake from the dream he just witnessed. He had seen through the eyes of what appeared to be his dad. He was trying to figure out what had happened and what the dream meant. The dream was hazy and unclear as he could barely make out the figures as it seemed the vision of the dream was losing its clarity. Blake shook his head and cleared his mind. He began to remember the events from yesterday and slowly got up. It was still dark and very early in the morning. He decided to check on Marie as the two of them stayed the night at the studio the day prior. Marie was very saddened at seeing Callie taken away by Octavio and just stayed to herself as she and Blake headed back to the plaza after leaving Cuttlefish's.

Blake walked into her and Callie's room. Marie wasn't in the bed so Blake walked into the main studio and didn't see her there either. He heard sobbing coming from the roof and headed toward the ladder. He climbed up and saw Marie looking over the ledge of the studio overlooking the plaza.

"I remember all the good times we had Cal, Now they're gone...like you," said Marie to herself as another tear ran down her cheek.

Blake felt deep remorse wishing he could've saved Callie. He decided that maybe he should console Marie during this bleak time of losing her beloved cousin.

"Marie?" asked Blake meekly.

Marie jerked and turned around to see Blake staring at her. "Blake? What are you...doing here?" she asked slightly stunned.

"I couldn't sleep...I thought that...maybe I should check on you," said Blake as he walked toward her.

"You too huh...I'm fine but thanks for checking on me. This is hard, me and Callie have always been together since we were hatchlings back in Calamari County," said Marie wiping her eye trying to keep her composure.

"Marie...it's not your fault, I should've done something, I failed you guys as a former squidbeak agent, I..." said Blake as he was waved off by Marie.

"Blake, it's not your fault either, any of us could've done something, so don't go blaming yourself. If anything Callie saved gramps and followed the example of what a true squidbeak agent does to protect their family and friends. If I remember right, you've done the same thing back during the great turf war," said Marie with a slight smile.

Blake blushed a little and looked back at Marie. "I just wish I could've done more. I just feel more guilty about it because Callie wanted to start a relationship. I was just uneasy about it because of you and gramps and anyone else. Being she's an inkling and I'm a human. I just see her more like family because of Cuttlefish. I wouldn't feel right about," said Blake.

"Blake, It wouldn't bother me at all or gramps that you would go out with Callie or even start a family together," said Marie reassuring Blake.

"family..." said Blake sadly as he laid his head down.

"Blake? What's the matter?" asked Marie with concern.

"oh it's nothing, I'll talk about it later," said Blake after he looked back at Marie.

"Well, I guess you better head back to bed then, you look tired, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow," said Marie as she turned back toward the ledge.

Blake walked over and looked at the plaza with her. After a moment he gave a sigh. "To think...this is where I fought that giant cube-shaped octoweapon years ago with the captain," said Blake.

Marie turned and looked at Blake with amazement. "You fought an octostomp with gramps here?" asked a stunned Marie.

"Yeah, I almost got crushed by it!" exclaimed Blake. "Luckily a fell through a crevasse in the ground though. I thought I was a goner for sure and your grandfather lost his best friend," said Blake as he turned toward Marie with a slight chuckle.

"Wow, that's pretty brave of you to protect gramps and inklings from that thing," said Marie with admiration.

A cool breeze hit the two of the roof and Marie crossed her arms and shivered from the cold air. Blake walked over and hugged her. Marie gave a slight jump and didn't resist when she felt the warmth from Blake's body. She slowly put her arms around him and gave a sigh. "Me and Cal, would always talk and hug on the roof of the studio recanting the good ole times of when the plaza was open and we when we were newscasters. Now those days are gone but I'm glad you came into my and Cal's life, Blake," said Marie.

"I'm glad I woke back up and met you guys too. I thought I would never see the light of day again," said Blake.

"Octavio took you away from gramps like he did Callie with me," said Marie as her anger was starting to surface and her fist clenching.

After a few seconds, she recomposed herself and relaxed her hands. "Let's head to bed. We have a long day ahead of us," said Marie as she walked toward the roof hatch.

Blake followed her, feeling sad yet worried for the squid sister. They were back in the main studio heading toward their rooms. "Don't worry Marie, we'll get Callie. I can promise that," said Blake as Marie turned toward him.

"Thanks, Blake. I know I can count on you to get Callie back. I know she must mean a lot to you as she does to me," said Marie giving Blake a grin.

"You guys are like sisters to me and the only family I can call right now...and family sticks together," said Blake.

Marie admiration for Blake grew, seeing his devotion to save Callie and accepting them like a family to him even though he was a human. For sometime Marie wasn't sure about Blake until he saw him fight Camper and his goons back on the saltspray rig. She was impressed with his combat skills but now has seen an affection and noble side of Blake, seeing why her cousin liked him so much.

"Marie are you ok? You looked a little zoned out," said Blake seeing the squid sister go blank for a moment, stuck in thought.

"Huh...oh, just...losing Callie and seeing Octavio escape, it's just been tough to take in," said Marie.

"Look, things will be ok. I fought alongside your grandfather during the great turf war. I wasn't able to stop Octavio back then but now I will this time," said Blake.

"I trust you will. I just don't want anything to happen to you like it did back then," said Marie.

"This it won't, I'm prepared to face Octavio. He took Callie from all of us and he's gonna get what's coming," said Blake pumping his fist in confidence.

Marie smiled again with a slight blush. "It's getting later. We better head to bed, if we're gonna have the energy to face Octavio and the rebels. Goodnight Blake," said Marie as she headed into her room.

"You too Marie and sweet dreams," said Blake as he walked into his room.

Marie stopped and looked back at Blake as he walked inside his room. Thoughts were looming in her and about getting Callie and Blake's admiration. She looked down and turned back to her room and finally went to bed preparing for the plans ahead for the next day.

* * *

The night prior, Cassie had left from Cuttlefish's after Callie was squidnapped and Cuttlefish devised a plan to get her back. Cassie was burdened with grief and concern about losing Callie, the squid sister that always supported her. She was nearly at her apartment until she looked up and saw a familiar inkling waiting near her complex. "Huh? Izzy?" said a stunned Cassie. She ran toward her and gave her a quick hug.

"Izzy! You had me worried sick! I've been trying to get a hold of you!" exclaimed Cassie who was irritated.

"I'm...sorry Cass, it's just that...I got caught up in the excitement. I wanted to play a turf war match with Flash... But we lost. It's my fault," said Izzy as she started to pout.

"Izzy, it's ok. teams win and lose. You're new at it. What did Flash snap off on you or something? Because if he did I'll..." said Izzy as she got angry.

"No! He's not mad! I...ran off and dropped my splattershot jr. I was just so... disappointed and I didn't think Flash would let me be on his team again," said Izzy sadly.

Izzy covered her face in shame. Cassie gave a sigh of remorse and started to hug Izzy again. "It's not the end of Inkopolis if you lose a match. You were being over-eager, just train more and keep competing Izzy and you'll get better ok," said Cassie with confidence.

Izzy nodded and gave a smile before the two of them headed into the apartment. Once they got to Cassie's room, Izzy told Cassie how the turf match went. They lost round 1 but barely won round 2. Izzy went descriptive with round 3.

Back at Mussselforge fitness. The pink team and green team were at a stalemate. Flash and his team managed to keep their focus up and evade any attacks Suki and her team dished out on them. Eventually, the pink team started changing their tactics. They were catching the green team by surprise and Suki went in for the kill. They had managed to cover nearly 3/4 of the stage and weren't letting up. Suki was bound to not let Flash, her ex-boyfriend, and that rookie Izzy win this match.

It was the last minute of the final round, Flash and his team frantically covered as much turf as they could, but didn't pay attention to their opponents and were soon splatted at every given chance. The match had reached the last 30 seconds and Suki jumped out of nowhere and confronted Flash. "Same old Flash, chasing things you'll never get," scoffed Suki.

"Shut up, Suki! You gonna talk or shoot!?" shouted an agitated Flash.

"Hmpf... I just wanted to make sure my last splat on you would be savory, so tell me Flash, that rookie you got, is she your new squeeze?" asked Suki with a vindictive smirk.

"What!? No! She's just a friend! And what do you care!?" asked a flustered and bitter Flash.

"She's cute, I'll give her that, well Flash let's get this over with. At least you and your team put up some kind of challenge for me. I wasn't completely bored," said Suki snidely giving a fake yawn.

Flash went to quickly throw up his dualies as he growled and glared at his ex-girlfriend but it was too late. The squiffer user on Suki's team shot and splatted him before he could shoot Suki. She squid formed and jumped to a higher vantage point searching for Izzy. "There you are," she said when she spotted Izzy.

Izzy was between the center of the stage and their spawn pad. She was focused on covering the stage with ink as much as she can and didn't notice Suki watching her. Suki jumped down and made her move on Izzy. As Izzy was still covering the floor with ink as a figure soon approached her. Izzy looked up and saw Suki flying toward her. Izzy aimed her splattershot jr. at her but it was shot out of her hand as Izzy gave a yelp.

Suki landed down and kicked Izzy backward against the wall. Izzy got up and rubbed the back of her head and looked back toward Suki. Suki gave her a devilish smile and aimed her dualies at Izzy. Izzy was frozen in fear and felt mortified by the situation.

"So what's a rookie like you doing on Flash's team? Ran out of turf players back in the square or something," sneered Suki.

"No! He invited me you stuck up squid!" shouted an irrational Izzy.

Suki moved in and put her dualies in Izzy's face. "Hmpf... Flash must be desperate or something or he's trying to bait me with you," said Suki.

"Bait me? what do you mean!?" asked an angry Izzy.

"Oh... I think you know what I mean. He's trying hard for me to get back with him, you know me and him were once a couple as I'm sure you've heard," said Suki.

"He wouldn't get back with you even if you were the last squid on earth!" exclaimed a flustered Izzy.

"Oh yeah, ask him why we broke up squid. You'll see his true colors eventually and I mean figuratively of course," said a snide Suki.

"I don't have to listen to you! We're gonna win this match and beat you!" shouted Izzy.

Suki crossed her arms and shook her head. "Tck...Tck...Tck... you're so delirious, like Flash. You can't see that this match is about over and we've already won," said Suki. Just then the two of them could hear the timer and the announcer call out the end of the match when all of a sudden splat. Izzy was shot by Suki and pulled into the spawn pad. Just as her ghost floated away toward her side. Suki looked up at her. "You'll find out soon enough," said Suki as she turned and walked away.

Izzy popped out of the spawn pad and returned to the lobby with Flash and the others. There, Flash was sulking with his arms crossed with a defeated expression. Ben and Jazz remained quiet recanting the match they had, not wanting to bother their team leader. Izzy slowly approached the group thinking about what Suki had said. "Umm... Flash?" asked Izzy meekly.

Flash picked his head up and faced Izzy. "(sigh) yeah?" asked Flash indifferently.

"I'm... sorry we lost the match," said Izzy.

"Izzy it's fine, I just wish things didn't go the way they did between me and Suki," said Flash as he turned his face.

"Umm, about that... what did happen between you and her? Why did you two break up?" Izzy asked.

"Look... it's complicated and I don't feel like talking about it," said Flash.

"Suki told me you were using me as bait before she... splatted me. What did she mean Flash?" asked Izzy with concern.

"She talked to you?" asked a stunned Flash. Izzy looked at Flash and nodded. "That's not true! I...wanted you to be on my team, she's just... trying to get into your head," said Flash hesitantly.

"Flash you act like your hiding something," said Izzy.

"I'm not hiding anything! Just... GO HOME!" yelled Flash as his mood changed.

"Flash!" shouted Jazz.

"What! I should've never let a rookie play this match with us!" shouted Flash as he turned toward his teammate.

Izzy gasped and was hurt by Flash's outburst. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. Ben and Jazz gave Flash a displeased look. "Flash, that was uncalled for, you need to apologize," demanded Jazz. But it was too late. Izzy dropped her splattershot jr. and ran off crying.

Flash turned feeling remorse for what he said. "Izzy! I'm sorry!" he shouted as he ran after her but she squid formed and disappeared.

Izzy explained her story to Cassie and she felt troubled about all that Izzy had gone through. Cassie approached Izzy giving her a long hug. "It's ok Izzy, I'm sorry flash was a jerk. I told you that you should've waited, some of these turf players have their minds just centered around their reputations and these stupid matches," said Cassie as she pulled off.

"Yeah...I know now, I just wanted to play. I didn't expect Flash to be like that. He seemed helpful and friendly," said Izzy.

"Not everyone is hospitable, unfortunately. People will use you sometimes and sometimes you have to get over it. It's a squid eat squid world sometimes in the turf war games. I should know," said Cassie, thinking about when she and Camper played together.

The two of them resolved their differences and turned toward the apartment. "Let's head in. I need to talk to you about something Izzy and this is going to be very uneasy for me to go over," said Cassie as they walked in.

* * *

It had turned night in Octo Canyon. The screens had projected a night sky with stars and clouds to replicate the outside. An octoling was laying in their cell just waking up from a dream they just had after getting captured by the octo rebels. The sergeant got up and looked around. She sighed in defeat and rubbed her forehead. "Not sure how I'm going to get out of this one," said Sergeant Maxie.

After a moment she plopped back down on the floor against the wall looking toward the cell door. She turned back and looked down and closed her eyes. "What a dream, It was like I was back on the saltspray rig again but the platform caught on fire. I remember falling off the ledge of the deck and landing in the water. I sank and couldn't swim back up to the top, it felt like I was getting pulled down. My vision got blurred and I saw a figure swim down and grab me and pull me back up but we weren't at the saltspray rig. It was some kind of beautiful valley with trees and fields of flowers. I remember the sunlight beaming down on me as I shielded my face and then I saw the figure kneeling down next to me. When my vision cleared it was Blake, that human, smiling at me asking me if I was ok. Then everything faded and I felt I needed to wake up but at the same time...I didn't," said the sergeant to herself recanting the dream she had.

The sergeant rubbed her face and shook her head. "Ever since he saved me back at the rig, I've had these feelings. What could it mean? I can't be..." said the sergeant as she cut off when she heard footsteps outside the door.

The little window on the door opened up and a small tin ration was thrown in. "Eat up! Traitor!" shouted the voice as it closed the window.

The sergeant walked over and grabbed the ration. She opened and saw inside were some sardines. "I guess they couldn't give me something good, I guess it's better than starving," said the sergeant.

The sergeant sat back down and tried to enjoy her meal still thinking about the dream. She had also wondered where Melvin and Selena were, hoping Obi didn't try and capture them too or lead them into a trap.

meanwhile, Selena and Melvin had camped inside the commissary, seeing the area was still being patrolled by octo rebels. The two of them threw a couple of glow sticks into a pile to illuminate the rear corner of the store behind some fallen down shelves. It seemed like the activity was slowing down with the octo rebels patrolling the area and the two were deciding either or not to slip away while it was dark but decided to get some rest for a little bit.

Melvin was sitting against the wall while Selena was kneeling over the chem light pile. "Well I guess it's not all bad, at least there some food around we can eat and I think the rebels are pulling back, maybe we can get out of here in the morning," suggested Selena.

"Yeah, maybe, I'm getting tired," said Melvin as he yawned and put his hand down.

"I had a question...do you like the sergeant?" asked Serena with a smile.

"What!?" jarred Melvin in shock. "What kind of question is that!?" he asked still stunned.

"Well I heard about the shower room incident and I was just wondering why you spying on her?" asked Serena with a slight smirk.

"First off, I wasn't spying on her! Second, I was sent to go look for her! I had an urgent message from the lieutenant and the showers were the last place I looked! Third! She hates my guts! Why would I like her!" exclaimed Melvin.

"Well I guess I would be too if I had some octoling watching me in the shower," said Selena.

"I told you! I WASN"T SPYING ON HER! DAMN!" shouted Melvin as his face turned red and then crossed his arms.

"Ok, Ok, Geez! Lighten up! I'm just messing with you!" exclaimed Selena.

"(sigh) I wish you'd stop. I'm just not in the mood," said Melvin as he crossed his arms and looked at Selena with displeasure.

"I'm sorry ok, you're so uptight. Does the sergeant have it out for you that much?" asked Selena.

"It goes back to our days at boot camp. She was my drill sergeant and let's just say I've been nothing but a disappointment in front of her and I've been in plenty of wrong places at the wrong time situations with her," explained Melvin.

"oh...I'm sorry," said Selena.

"It's ok, I just wish... she'd just give me a chance to prove myself. I understand she had a hard life as well. She never wanted to join the octarian army," said Melvin.

"She seems pretty committed," said Selena.

"Well we all are, that's just how things are underground. The sergeant always wanted to go up to the surface and see how the world was like up there," explained Melvin.

"I think we all would and we can now since we formed a peace treaty with the inklings," said Selena.

"Not necessarily, the government wants all octarians to stay put in Octo Valley since the rebels objected to the peace treaty. Until they are stopped, they don't want us to risk getting caught by the inkling authorities and getting blamed for any kind of attack on the inklings should we be up at the surface when they do. Until the octo rebels are stopped we can't go up and leave for the surface. It's political mumbo jumbo," explained Melvin.

"Oh, that's too bad...I was hoping we would go to the surface soon," said a disappointed Selena.

'We will...once the octo rebels are put into custody. Well, it's getting late. We need to get some shut-eye so we can get up early enough and sneak outta here without getting caught," advised Melvin.

"ok," said Selena as she sat down next to Melvin. She leaned her head against his shoulder and slowly nodded off. Melvin blushed a little and turned his head away. "Goodnight...Melvin," said Selena before she fell asleep.

"Good...night, Selena," said Melvin nervously as he eventually fell asleep himself. The two of them stayed the night until the next morning when they would try and find a way out and search for Obi and the sergeant.

* * *

Back in Octo Valley the lieutenant was patiently waiting to hear back from the recon team led by Sergeant Maxie. She began to worry and didn't want to risk calling the unit if it meant compromising their positions. After a couple of minutes, she turned away from the consoles being manned by the octolings and toward the main doorway. She gave a sigh and decided to walk out of the command room.

The lieutenant walked out, not acknowledging anyone of her departure and headed down toward her barracks. Her mind was troubled and she wanted to get away from everyone for a moment. She made it to her barracks without running into anyone and walked into her room. She pulled out a flask and took a swig of the liquid. She put it away and laid on her bed and took her goggles off.

"(sigh)...I hope the sergeant and the recon unit didn't get captured. Maybe putting that bumbling specialist in Maxie's team wasn't a good idea. I pray for their safety, I would hate to know what would happen to them if they got caught," said the lieutenant as she slowly closed her eyes.

She dozed off for nearly 10 minutes before she awoke with a knocking at her door. She got up and groaned. "I guess I can't enjoy some time to myself," said the lieutenant to herself.

She opened the door and saw the octoling in the lab coat from before. "Yes, what is it?" sternly and slightly annoyed.

"Uh... yes, Lieutenant. I was looking for you back at the command center and weren't there, I just..." said the octoling nervously.

"Out with it already!" exclaimed the aggravated Lieutenant.

"Y...Yes ma'am! I have some information regarding the blood sample from the human and more findings on our research," explained the octoling.

"This better be important!" shouted the lieutenant.

"I...It is ma'am! Come with me," said the octoling as she waved the lieutenant.

The two of them headed toward the lab. Once there they headed toward the back of the lab where there was a fossilized human skeleton on a large table. "Our excavation teams have come across this, we believe it to be a fossil of a human," said the octoling.

"This is an amazing find, but what does this have to do with Blake's blood?" asked the lieutenant.

"Well, we did a DNA sample on the fossil," said the octoling researcher.

"And?" asked the lieutenant wanting the octoling to get to the point.

"And, the DNA from the human's blood match!" exclaimed the octoling.

"What!?" replied the lieutenant unsure how to make out the revelation.

"Yes, they match. I'm utterly speechless myself," said the octoling.

"But, what does this mean?" asked the lieutenant.

"I'm not sure, There are so many questions that need to be answered. We can only conclude that this is some relative of the human. That's why we need him back," said the octoling.

"Right now, my only focus is on stopping the octo rebels before they do any more damage. This will have to be put aside for the time being, maybe your team will find more," said the lieutenant.

"We'll try ma'am, but this is still astonishing. Maybe we'll find more fossils," said the excited octoling.

"Inform me on anything if it's the most upmost importance. I'm heading back to my barracks. I just hope I don't get disturbed...again," said the lieutenant as she walked out of the lab.

The octoling in the lab coat looked back the fossilized human skeleton and studied it but something caught her eye. On the rib of the skeleton covered in dry mud was what appeared to be some kind of card. She pulled it off the ribs of the skeleton and attempted to chip off the dry mud on it. The card was very brittle and on the verge of crumbling apart. The front of the card was unreadable and the photo of the individual has faded away. She looked on the back and saw a logo on it. The logo consisted of a blue circle with white wave-shaped emblems. The card crumbled to pieces shortly after she studied it leaving a large shard with the logo still left on it.

"I wonder what this symbol could mean?" asked the octoling.

She placed the shard down and looked through her data files. It soon donned on her what the logo was. She picked the piece up again and looked at it. "It can't be," said the octoling researcher. "If I remember correctly this is the same logo on the vault doors, do the humans have something to do with vault?" she asked herself.

One of the other researchers walked over enticing that the female octoling was acting curious with the piece of plastic she had. "Ma'am, did you find something?" he asked.

"Otto, that ID, well, what's left of it, has the same symbol on it as the vault doors. I'm wondering if this human is connected somehow," said the female.

"There's a good possibility, we'll have the team analyze it," said Otto.

Go ahead, I'll go ahead and get back to examining the fossilized remains," said the female researcher. The two went to their stations and continued on investigating the fossil and it's connections with the vault.


	44. Arc 3 Chapter 2

**Arc 3 Chapter 2**

"W...W...What's going on?...Where am I? Marie!...Gramps!...Blake!" shouted a terrified voice. "Please! I wanna go home!" shouted the voice as she started to cry. The room was dark and a figure could be seen sitting against the wall in a fetal position. She had her face against her legs as she was sobbing. She remembered getting kidnapped by Octavio and the to rebels back at her grandfather's.

After a moment the doorknob started turning and the squid sister picked her head up with tears in her eyes as she sniffled. An octoling with black tentacles with one of them cut off at the tip, wearing goggles walked into the room. She had a scar running across her right eye and slid her goggles on top of her head and stared at the squid sister.

"Who...who are you? Why did you bring me here?" asked the squid sister still sobbing as she looked up at the octoling.

"Your name's Callie, right? One of the famous squid sisters ain't it. You, your cousin, and that agent are the ones who captured our emperor and stole back our great zapfish," said the octoling elite that was looking down at her.

"Y...Y...Yeah...what's this all about? Why did you kidnap me!?" asked Callie frantically.

"What better way to ensure that the other agents don't try and stop our plans to recapture the great zapfish then have you for leverage. Besides your the one that has a strong interest in that human, by what I've seen. You'll be his little damsel in distress, I bank on him to attempt to rescue you. Don't think we've forgotten all about him," sneered the octoling elite.

"What do you want with Blake?!" demanded Callie.

"That's our business and I wouldn't about him as much as you need to worry about yourself and those ink stains and their precious city. The inklings will soon get what they rightfully deserve!" shouted the elite as Callie clenched back.

She soon left out of the room and locked the door behind her. Callie covered her face and fell on her knees dwelling on what would happen to her and inklings. She cried hoping she would be rescued and see her family and friends again.

The rebels and the major left out of the internment facility as the squid sister's crying could be heard echoing down the hall. They made it back to the assembly area to meet with Octavio for further orders. "So...what's your intentions with the inkling girl?" asked the major.

"She, her cousin, and that cursed agent 3 were the one's who imprisoned me in that wretched snowglobe 2 years ago. We lost the great zapfish to those damn inkstains and I think it's time for to know how it feels to lose something. This will be payback for what they did to me and for taking our power away from us. Cuttlefish and those squids will rule the day they tangled with this octopus. I have special plans for her. Just get the troops ready squirt!" sneered Octavio.

"Yes, my liege," saluted the major as she and the other octolings left. Octavio turned away in his octobot and stared at the ceiling of the large chamber. "I have your grandsquid Cuttlefish. It's time for you know how it feels to lose something precious in your life. If you know what's best for you and those inkstains. Don't meddle in our operations or you'll never see your grandsquid again," said Octavio.

* * *

The sun had soon rose over Inkopolis signally a new day. At the plaza in the studio, Blake was still asleep after the long night he had dwelled on past events. He and Marie hung out on the roof in the night consoling over Callie. Though Blake was still asleep another figure was awake as she slowly opened the door to check on Blake. It was Marie who peered in the room watching Blake to see if he was awake. She walked over and studied him before she hesitantly reached her hand out to touch his arm. She shook her head and woke Blake up.

"Blake, Blake, wake up," she said.

Blake mumbled and rolled over. Marie sighed and shook her head. "Alrighty then," she said putting her arms out. She pulled out an air horn used for the turf war games and blew it.

Blake jumped out of his skin and fell off the bed crashing on the floor. "WHAT THE CRAP!" he yelled as he cleared his ears. "Marie?! You could've just woken me up like a normal person!" shouted an irritated Blake still startled by the sound of the air horn.

"Sorry, but I did, and plus I couldn't resist," said Marie as she smirked. "C'mon, we gotta get ready, I'll call gramps and Cassie," said Marie as she walked out.

"Geez, talk about a wake-up call, glad she's in a better mood compared to last night," said Blake as he got up and brushed himself off.

After a while, the two got changed and Blake was wearing his disguise since they were heading out of the plaza. Blake had grabbed his backpack and wore his inkling wig and eye mask as to not cause a panic. Marie was wearing her disguise as well as not to attract attention to herself also. The two of them headed to the storm drain to head to Cuttlefish's for their big meeting to go over their plans to rescue Callie and stop Octavio and the rebels.

Once there they headed over to the shack to be greeted by the captain himself. "Nice to see you two, all we gotta do is wait for the agent lass and her friend," said Cuttlefish as he tapped his cane.

After a moment Cuttlefish turned toward Blake. "While we're waiting, Bucko, I want to reinstate you back into the squidbeak squad. go ahead and step forward," said Cuttlefish as Blake got in front of him.

"You do remember the oath don't you, lad?" asked Cuttlefish to Blake.

"Yeah, I think I do," said Blake.

"Alright, then let's get started," said Cuttlefish as he gave Blake a yellow plastic squid badge. Blake examined it and it reminded him of his old brass squid badge Cuttlefish gave him long ago. He placed in his pocket and Cuttlefish gave him a salute while Blake saluted him back. "Give the oath," ordered Cuttlefish.

"I do solemnly swear to protect the inklings from all who threaten them with great courage and valor and will give my life to ensure that there is no task that I can't handle and no enemy that I can't defeat. I uphold this oath to defend my fellow squids from all who would take their freedom, happiness, and livelihood," said Blake reciting the squidbeak oath.

"Good lad, you're now an honorary squidbeak agent again," said Cuttlefish with joy in his eyes.

"Thanks, captain, I won't let you down," said Blake as he gave a quick salute.

Cuttlefish turned back toward Marie. Marie looked back at him with question. "Marie, I want you to go ahead and make your way to Mt. Nantai and get our soon to become agent's gear ready," said Cuttlefish.

"O...K, I thought we would do everything here," replied Marie.

"I did too, but I thought about it and I want to get this operation started as quickly as possible. Not to mention Mt. Nantai overlooks Octo Canyon. You can also get your station ready for the new agent. Remember that you're taking charge of this while I and agent 3 are going to go snoop around and figure out about this company," said Cuttlefish.

"Wait? What company?" asked Blake.

"Bucko, this may come to a shock to you, but agent 3 informed on something that may pique your interest and possibly your past. Do you remember Kamabo?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Kamabo? Kamabo... wait, that's the company that built that pod I was in! and... what do they have to do with this?" asked Blake confused.

"Because they are still around. Agent 3 informed me that the lass that was rescued from those misfits hideout and someone she met at the institute was working with this company. She said something about a C.Q. Cumber that was their contact with them," explained Cuttlefish.

"What? But this doesn't make any sense. That can't be right," said a flabbergasted Blake.

"That's why I and the agent 3 lass are goin' to investigate. I feel the same way you do Bucko. This sounds troubling and I want to investigate. We are going to go see if that lass at the hospital is awake or not and see if she knows anything," said Cuttlefish.

"I...wish I could go with you captain," said Blake.

"I'm sure you do, but I want you out in the field. You're a well-skilled squidbeak agent, you've fought alongside me back during the great turf war. I need you to train the new agent we're recruiting and get her in line and watch her back. Just know your identity and the fact that you're a human, will have to be revealed to her. I just hope she doesn't overreact to you being a human," said Cuttlefish.

"I hope not either but I understand Cuttlefish and I want to rescue Callie," said Blake.

"I know she has a heart on for you Bucko and I'd be honored if you took her hand," said Cuttlefish.

"You've noticed too, (sigh) Captain...I couldn't. She's your niece and I feel she's more like family. I'm just not ready to settle down yet. It wasn't that long ago I woke out of that damn pod again," said Blake.

"Well, Bucko. you know she's persistent. I wouldn't keep her waiting," said Cuttlefish.

"I... I just want time, right now I just wanna focus on bringing her back, then maybe we could start a relationship," said Blake.

"Take all the time you can Bucko, but remember that she loves lad. Family or not," said Cuttlefish.

"I know Captain," replied Blake.

"Alright grandsquid, you better make your way to Mt. Nantai soon," said Cuttlefish. Marie nodded and walked away. She thought about what her grandfather had said to Blake. She had a pained expression and turned her head down. She slowly made her way back to the storm grate and headed to Mt. Nantai.

* * *

Cassie and Izzy were headed toward the plaza to go and meet the others. Izzy was very nervous and remembered being told by Cassie about the squidbeak squad and Cuttlefish wanting her to join. Izzy didn't know how to take it at first and was uncertain if she was cut out for it. Cassie ensured her that her friends would make sure she would be all right and train her for the missions.

Izzy stopped as she and Cassie headed toward the plaza. Cassie turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Cass, are you sure about this, I mean...I lost the turf match, how am I supposed to be a squidbeak agent like you if I can't even..." said Izzy.

"Izzy, don't worry. I have faith in you and so does Cuttlefish. We'll train you to be an agent," said Cassie as she approached Izzy, placing her hand on her shoulder,

"I...I don't know," said Izzy as she turned her head away.

"C'mon Izzy, you know you've wanted to be an agent like me since we fought Camper and his goons. You were brave and helped me get Cleo to safety, remember?' said Cassie.

"Yeah, but that was then. I thought is pretty cool to see you were this secret agent and all," replied Izzy.

"Ok, then, let's go and make you an honorary squidbeak agent!" exclaimed Cassie as she grabbed a hold of Izzy's hand and headed off to the plaza.

"Wah! Slow down Cass...I'm still not so sure about this," shrieked Izzy as Cassie had a hold of her as they were rushing down the sidewalk.

The two made it to the plaza and headed toward the storm drain. Izzy was uncertain about going down the storm drain but Cassie assured her that it was fine. Izzy gave a deep breath and hopped down in her squid form. The two of them slithered down the tunnel in their squid form and made their way to the other end. Once there they headed toward the shack to be greeted by Cuttlefish.

The two walked up and Izzy noticed Cuttlefish studying her. Nervous at first Izzy rubbed her arm and turned facing Cassie with an uncertain expression.

"Izzy, I would like you to meet Captain Cuttlefish. The founder and commander of the squidbeak squad," said Cassie as she introduced Cuttlefish.

"Well, youngin' it's a pleasure to meet chu, Agent 3 as told me all about you and I insisted that a brave lass like you join the squidbeak," said Cuttlefish as he shook her hand.

"Umm...it's nice to meet you too. I'm nervous about all this. Are you sure you want a squid like me to join?" asked Izzy.

"I'm sure youngin' she told me about you helping her and rescuing that lass back at those misfits hideout. I think you got what it takes, so don't be nervous," said Cuttlefish as he tapped his cane.

"Ok, then...I'll do my best," said Izzy hesitantly and gulped.

"Good, now that I think we're on the same page. I'd like you to meet Agent 0, the first squidbeak agent that I've recruited," said Cuttlefish as Blake walked up in his inkling disguise.

Blake stepped up and Izzy studied him. "Wow, you're pretty tall for an inkling and kinda cute too," said Izzy surprised by Blake's height.

"Bucko, go ahead and show her," said Cuttlefish.

"Captain, are you sure about this?" asked Blake nervously.

"show me what?" asked Izzy.

"Izzy, don't be frightened by what you're about to see," said Cassie placing her hand on her shoulder from behind.

Cuttlefish gave Blake a nod and he sighed as he reached up and removed his inkling wig and eye mask.

"(gasp) Y...Y...YOU"RE THAT CREATURE! WHAT'S GOING ON?! CASSIE! I'M ABOUT TO..." yelled Izzy as she squid formed and fainted in front of them. She inked on herself as she laid on the ground passed out from Blake's appearance.

"Well, that could've gone over smoother, let's see if we can wake the lass up," said Cuttlefish.

Cassie gave Cuttlefish an unpleasant look then turned back to Izzy picking her up in her squid from as she moaned. She took her inside the shack to rest on the couch hoping she would wake up soon. Then she went back outside to meet back with Cuttlefish and Blake.

Cuttlefish looked at Cassie. "So is she going to be okay lass?" asked Cuttlefish.

"She'll be fine, so what do we do now? asked Cassie.

"Well lass, let's see if that gal you two rescued is awake. We need to ask some questions regarding this Kamabo company," said Cuttlefish.

"What about Izzy? Shouldn't we wait until she wakes up?" asked Cassie.

"There's no time agent 3, we need to get going. I'm sure Bucko can handle the situation once your friend wakes up, now c'mon," said Cuttlefish as he headed toward the storm drain.

"(sigh) ok," replied Cassie. She looked back at Blake who was uncertain of what to do. "Blake, just... take it easy, she's never seen a human before and all she could remember is when she saw you back at Urchin Underpass as a big scary creature. Just take it slow and coax her and maybe she'll calm down," said Cassie.

"You got it, I'll take it easy, I wish you and the captain the best of luck," said Blake.

"Thank you, I wish I could go into Octo Canyon with you guys to watch Izzy's back and see you in action. I still can't get over that a human was the first squidbeak agent. Well, I wish you two the best of luck as well and please make sure nothing happens to Izzy. She's been a great friend to me, I hate for anything to go wrong since I was the one who got her into this mess in the first place," said Cassie as she started to leave.

"Cassie, don't you worry. She's in good hands and I'll explain things once she wakes up," said Blake.

"Thanks, Blake. I can count on you to watch Izzy's back for me," said Cassie.

Blake nodded and Cassie gave him a smile and turned away to follow Cuttlefish.

Blake turned back to the shack and gave a sigh, thinking of what to do next.

* * *

In Inkopolis Square, back at the studio. Marina had gotten up early and went to her laptop at her station. She wanted to check and see if her contact had sent any messages even though her contact told her that she wanted to go into radio silence for some time. Marina cut on her laptop and scrolled through her messages to see if there was anything new.

She spotted something recent on her messages and clicked on it. A window popped up with a video on it. She played the video and it appeared to be a video chat with an octoling appearing on the screen. She had violet tentacles instead of red ones and her eyes were a hazel color with purple eye rings like typical octolings. She was just wearing a black tank top and shorts without the armor on her.

"DJ_Hyperfresh, I hope you get this video soon. I didn't have type to send you a typed message and I wanna make this quick as possible before I relocate to my safehouse in Octo Valley. I'm hearing reports that the octo rebels have freed and relocated DJ Octavio from some contacts in Octo Canyon. I'm not sure if the new Octarian Government has caught wind of this or not. What I understand is they were supposed to send a retrieval team to bring Octavio to the Octarian court to stand trial but have had their hands full dealing with the octo rebels. I hope my contacts are wrong about this but just in case prepare for the worst, I'm sure if he's free and leading the octo rebels they'll attempt to steal the great zapfish or may even attack Inkopolis but I doubt being they don't have that many numbers in their army. Get a hold of the squidbeak squad you were talking about and inform them on it soon. Hopefully this doesn't go public for both races sake and also I need information on the human subject, I've heard that he was never retrieved by the octarians and was let go, I wonder why? Anyway just warn the squidbeak and keep your eyes peeled for anything and keep me updated. Indigo_Agent out!" the purple tentacled octoling said in the video before the screen went black.

After watching the video Marina was shocked by hearing that Octavio was freed, she had much concern and dread, fearing Octavio would soon do something if he was leading the rebels. She thought to herself that she had to do something soon and then heard footsteps coming from the back.

Pearl appeared around the corner and stretched and gave a big yawn as she scratched herself. "Marina...what are you doing up so early?" Pearl asked as she was still half groggy.

"Oh, Pearly, I just um... felt like getting up, I couldn't sleep so I got on my laptop to play some games to pass the time," said Marina with a smile hiding her lie.

Pearl raised an eyebrow as she stared at Marina. "O...K...just remember that in a couple of hours we gotta get ready for the news report for this morning," said Pearl as she went back to bed.

Marina gave a deep sigh as Pearl left the room and turned back to her laptop. She decided to send a message to her friend from the video.

_Indigo_Agent_

_I watched your video and I'm troubled at what you've heard. I hope Octavio isn't free either or leading the rebels. This could break bad for both of our races. We have made progress trying to shake hands and put our past aside for peace. I just hope Octavio and the rebels will get stopped before anything happens. As for the squidbeak agents, I don't know how to get in touch with them. I was in contact with them at the hideout of the Inkopolis crime syndicate and haven't got in contact with them since. I'll see what I can do for now. Our options are limited and we can only pray for a miracle. I'll keep you posted if anything should come up. As for the subject whose name is Blake. I haven't heard anything out of him. I hope he's ok. I wish I could meet him. By what I've seen, he's a courageous and selfless guy that's willing to put his life on the line to save his friends as I've seen back at the hideout from rescuing that inkling. I wish you safety Indigo_Agent._

_DJ_Hyperfrsh out._

After Marina sent the message she closed her laptop and looked around. She had much running through her mind on the troubling news her friend informed her of. She decided to leave the studio and head over the hospital to check and see if Cleo, the inkling that was put in ICU from Camper's hideout had recovered and was awake. Marina was hoping that maybe she knew of any information regarding the rebels or maybe she knew how to get in contact with the squidbeak agents.

She got on a coat and sunglasses and left out of the studio toward the hospital. She looked back at the studio with remorse, feeling bad that she had to leave Pearl behind and hoped she'd get back in time without a grilling from her partner.

* * *

In Cuttlefish's shack, the inkling woke up from fainting in front of the group seeing Blake standing in front of her. She grabbed her head as she sat up. "What happened?" she said. the inkling girl looked around the inside of the shack. "Where am I?" she asked herself. Then she heard voices coming from outside so she walked over and looked out the window.

She saw the elderly inkling from before propping himself up with his cane. She then saw her friend Cassie talking with him. Then Blake caught her attention and she started to feel the fear again from before. She started listening to their conversation. She saw that Cassie wasn't afraid of the tall creature and left out with the elderly inkling she met from before. Blake then turned and looked toward the shack and she moved out of sight.

"What do I do now!" Izzy exclaimed. "Cassie left with that old inkling and now I'm stuck here with that creature!" she said as she panicked. She soon heard footsteps approach the door and a knock followed.

She squid formed and hid under the couch. Blake knocked again with no answer as Izzy stayed under the couch. The knob turned and Blake peered inside to see that Izzy wasn't on the couch. "Hello!... I'm not gonna hurt you!" shouted Blake as he walked in.

Izzy whimpered as she saw Blake walk inside. "Look! I know you're afraid of me but don't be, I'm good friends with Cassie, so please come out!" Blake shouted again.

Izzy gave a deep breath and slowly crawled out from under the couch as Blake had his back turned inside the kitchen area. She changed back to her humanoid form and looked at Blake nervously intimidated by his size and appearance never seeing a human before.

Izzy cleared her throat getting Blake's attention as he turned around and saw Izzy staring at him with fear. "Hey, there you are... um, I know you're afraid of me but I'm not gonna hurt you...my name's Blake and it's a pleasure to meet you," said Blake as he cautiously approached her. She clenched and stepped back away from Blake. He saw her fearful reaction and decided to kneel down making himself shorter than her and placed his hand out.

She stared at him with fear slowly turning to curiosity. She looked at his hand and wasn't sure what to do. Blake beamed her a smile and her fear was slowly resolving. She very slowly approached Blake and took his hand as she kept on eye on him. When she touched his hand she noticed it was warm and a little rough compared to her skin. She was confused about her contact with him and slowly wrapped her hand around his and hesitantly shook it.

"See, it's ok," said Blake.

A smile slowly appeared on her face as she turned and looked at him. He slowly stood up after she let go and introduce himself. "My name's Blake, Cassie has told us about you and we're honored to have on the squidbeak squad, I just hope we can be friends. I'm sorry I scared you from before. I'm guessing this is the first time you've seen a human?" said Blake.

"Wait...you're a human! Like the fossil back at the Shellendorf Institute, but I thought you guys were extinct!" exclaimed Izzy who was in utter shock.

"It's... a long story, I'll tell you all about in a moment but for now, we gotta go over to Mt. Nantai to get you ready for your training and field work," said Blake.

"Mt. Nantai?" asked Izzy.

"Cuttlefish gave me the directions to get there. All I know is for me to bring you there," explained Blake. "You ready?" asked Blake.

"I...guess so, t's just...seeing a human alive for the first time. How can Cassie and that old inkling just act, I don't know...normal about it?" asked Izzy.

"I'll explain things on our way to Mt. Nantai, we'll take our time getting so Agent 2 can get your stuff ready," said Blake.

Over the next hour as Blake and Izzy were on their way to Mt. Nantai, Blake explained to Izzy on how he, a human was still around. He told her about Cuttlefish finding him in a pod on the beach, the great turf war, him being the first squidbeak agent and all the recent events that had taken place from the weeks prior. Izzy couldn't comprehend what Blake had just told her and was speechless about his existence and him being a squidbeak agent. After she composed herself and cleared her thoughts to understand all that Blake had told her. She told him her name and her relations with Cassie and all the recent events she'd been through, deciding to share each others life stories to ease the mood of the situation.

"well it sounds like you've had an exciting adventure yourself, Izzy, I think you'll make a fine agent in time," said Blake.

Izzy blushed and looked back at Blake with a smile. "I'm glad you're not afraid of me anymore," commented Blake as he smiled back at the inkling girl.

"Well, Cassie said something about you training me for fieldwork," said Izzy.

"Yeah, but you gotta get your gear first, I think Mar...I'm mean Agent 2 has your equipment. She's at Mt. Nantai, I think Cuttlefish mentioned something about getting there through the square. I think Agent 2 said I had to get there to go by a shop owned by, I think his name was Sheldon to get my gear," said Blake.

"Oh yeah, he runs ammo knights. He sells turf weapons and gear in Inkopolis square. I've been there with Cassie. He's kinda odd though, but he's ok," said Izzy.

"Well, I'm glad we're both going then, you can point me to the right place," said Blake.

"Wait, you're going to the square! But the inklings will panic if they see you!" exclaimed Izzy.

"Not with my disguise on... hopefully," said Blake as he placed his wig and eye mask back on his head. "See! I oughta blend in," said Blake showing Izzy.

"I guess so, you did fool me at first, even though you were tall and your head and eyes are a lot smaller than ours," said Izzy.

"So far it's worked, especially back at Calamari county. I didn't ask for that inkling chick to make a move on me," said Blake

"Huh?" responded Izzy after hearing that.

"It's nothing...I see the grate up ahead," said Blake changing the subject. Blake climbed with Izzy squid forming and jumping on Blake's back. He pushed over the grate and looked around the plaza and saw that it was still empty. "Alright, time to head to the square. Lead the way Izzy," said Blake as the two of them hopped out.


	45. Arc 3 Chapter 3

**Arc 3 Chapter 3**

Blake and Izzy made it back to the plaza from Cuttlefish's. Blake turned toward Izzy while she looked back at him with curiosity. "I'm not sure where the square is, do you know?" asked Blake.

"Yeah, it's this way, we should get there a lot faster in squid form," said Izzy as she turned into a squid.

"Umm... you do know I can't do that," said Blake.

"Oh right, you're a human, sorry," said Izzy as she blushed and rubbed the back of her head after she changed back. "We could take the bus, there's a bus stop outside the plaza but I'm not sure when it will get there," said Izzy still a little embarrassed.

"well, lead the way," said Blake.

The two of them headed to the bus stop and waited. It was 5 minutes until a bus came along and stopped for them. The driver was a jellyfish and pointed to them to take a seat. The few inklings and oceanics that were on stared at Blake for his height. He was a little tall for an inkling and Blake tried to recompose himself as to not draw attention. He was nervous riding the bus being he was a human even though he was in disguise.

It was a 20 minute trip to the square and the two of them got off and headed inside. The square was packed with Inklings that were participating in the turf war games. Blake gulped and looked around, hoping his cover wouldn't get blown. He was fortunate enough that the inklings were distracted from talking to one another or looking through the windows of the stores or messing with their phones to pay attention to him.

"Sheldon's store is this way Blake," said Izzy as she guided him. She soon saw how nervous he was and asked him, "What's the matter, Blake?"

"It's nothing, let's just get to Sheldon's before people start looking at me," said Blake.

Izzy nodded and they walked toward Ammo Knights. Izzy walked in first and looked around. There were a few inklings browsing at turf war weapons and Sheldon was over in front of his counter talking to an inkling about specials. Izzy walked with Blake behind her as he looked around staringing at the turf war weapons. he was astounded by the different types he'd never seen before and wanted to look around himself but he had stayed focus on the matters at hand.

"Sheldon," said Izzy.

The little horseshoe crab turned toward Izzy. "Izzy, it's been some time, where's your friend Cassie?" he asked.

"She had to... do some errands, I... need to talk to you about something," she said nervously.

The inkling who was talking with Sheldon left. The little horseshoe crab jumped behind his counter and signaled for her to come over. "Yes, Marie has been by here and she's informed me about your recruitment in the squidbeak squad, congratulations! I'm sure you'll make a great agent!" exclaimed Sheldon in excitement.

"Shhhh! Not so loud!" shouted Izzy quietly as the inklings in the store turned toward the two wonder what was going on.

"Oh sorry, um come this way," said Sheldon directing her and Blake to the back.

The three of them were in a large storage room full of crates and weapons. "Alright, now let's talk, so...Marie informed me about you joining the squidbeak and she had done picked up your gear but that's not why you're here, is it. She told me your friend there is also an agent," said Sheldon before he focused on Blake. Blake was studying Sheldon seeing that he looked like Ammoses but shorter wondering if he was a relative of his and wanted to ask.

"I'm unsure why she didn't pick up the hero gear for him and why she said not to get worked up by his presence. He seems ok but tall," said Sheldon who was a little confused and curious.

Izzy gave a deep breath and looked at Sheldon with seriousness. "Sheldon, he's... not an inkling," said Izzy.

"What do you mean? He looks like an inkling to me," he said.

Izzy turned to Blake and gave him a nod. Blake was hesitant but reached to his wig and pulled it off along with his eye mask also revealing his small ears. Sheldon's eyes almost popped out and was utterly frozen in disbelief. "Th...Th...This can't be! You're a...a...," stammered Sheldon. "human," finished Blake.

Sheldon fainted for a moment and the two stood over him worried. Shortly Sheldon's eyes quickly opened and jumped back to his feet at a rapid pace. He looked at Blake with utter astonishment and his hands closed together. "This is extraordinary! A real live human in my store! I can't believe it!" shouted the overexcited crab who was jumping around like a schoolgirl. Blake was feeling a little awkward recanting the time when he first met Ammoses and his expression seeing a live human as well.

"How have you been alive all this time!? Is their more of your species?! What was the world like back then?! I have so many questions!" shouted the giddy horseshoe crab.

"I'm guessing you're related to Ammoses Shellendorf I presume," said Blake awkwardly by Sheldon's reaction to him.

"Related? I'm his grandson, Sheldon Shellendorf... and how do you know my grandpappy?" asked the curious horseshoe crab.

"I was friends with him back before the great turf war along with Cuttlefish...and Octavio," explained Blake.

"(Gasp) Wait...How could you know my grandpappy? He's been gone for 30 years and did you say the great turf war? How's that possible?" asked the confused and curious Sheldon.

Blake gave a deep sigh and explained to Sheldon about his life story, starting with him being found on the pod by Cuttlefish, fighting the octarians alongside Cuttlefish and being thrown back into the pod that he was found in by Octavio and being frozen in time again as well as the recent events after he came out the pod again back at the Shellendorf Institute. Sheldon was agape with what Blake had told him and couldn't fathom how any of this was possible but he slowly regained his composure and glanced back at Blake with understanding.

"I'm honored to meet the human that fought alongside Cuttlefish and my grandpappy. So you were the first squidbeak agent to ever be enlisted. This is absolutely remarkable, I can't put it into words. Does...anyone else know about your existence besides Cuttlefish and the squidbeak agents?" asked Sheldon.

"Well, the inkling crime syndicate found out about me as well as the Octo rebels," said Blake.

"I wonder why the octo rebels wanted you so badly but I'm sure it couldn't have been good. I'm glad the squidbeak squad rescued you in time before those rebels took you," said Sheldon.

"Yeah...unfortunately they took Callie," said Blake as he downed his head.

"Yes, I'm saddened to hear that, Marie explained everything to me as she started crying half an hour ago but I have faith that you two will get her back!" exclaimed Sheldon.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes," said Blake confidently.

"That's the spirit, now come with me," directed Sheldon.

"What about me?" asked Izzy who remained quiet for a period of time.

"Oh, right, I gave your gear and weapon to Agent 2, She'll be waiting for you near Deca tower," said Sheldon.

"Ok, I guess I'll see you later then Blake," said Izzy as she left out of the room and exited the store.

Sheldon and Blake headed over to a large case lying on the floor. Sheldon opened it and inside was a fluorescent yellow T-shirt with reflective bands running vertically over between the collar and sleeve meeting with a horizontal reflective band that ran horizontally across the bottom of the shirt. It looked like a high visibility shirt that utility workers could wear. There was also a black long-sleeved undershirt and black cargo shorts that matched it. A black belt with a red pouch attached to it was also inside, but what caught Blake's eye was the weapon.

"What is this thing?" asked Blake as he picked it up and studied the weapon in astonishment.

The weapon resembled a Pepperball VKS rifle. It was Black with fluorescent yellow furniture matching the clothes in the case.

"That my friend is a working prototype. It's a bit too big for an inkling to carry but I really couldn't downsize it. It's based on a human weapon from a video game that was dug up at the excavation sites. So I built it just as a hobby and put it away for safekeeping until a could build a small scale one for the agents," explained Sheldon.

Blake aimed down the weapon and studied it some more. "This is so cool, the only weapon I've ever used was a bamboozler Ammoses made me," said Blake.

"Well that's no bamboozler, I can assure you," said Sheldon. "It's fully automatic so be careful, also it takes up quite a bit of ink," explained the horseshoe crab again.

"Speaking of ink, I'm not an inkling, I don't produce ink," said Blake.

"Oh Shell, your right! I have to invent something that could help that dilemma. Tell you what! Try on your hero gear and head to the indoor range I constructed in the basement and try out that weapon I gave you. Take a prefilled tank before you go and ask me for a refill if you run out," said Sheldon.

Blake nodded and grabbed a tank full of ink laying against the wall and headed down to the range to shoot the hero shot weapon he was given while Sheldon worked on a device that could utilize collecting ink for Blake since he was human that couldn't produce ink like the inklings.

* * *

Izzy left out of Ammo Knights when a figure caught her attention. It was Flash rushing up to her waving to get her attention. "Izzy!" shouted Flash.

"Flash!" shouted Izzy in surprise.

"Izzy! I've been looking for you. I would've called you if I had your number but I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about yesterday. I...want you back on my team. So does Ben and Jazz. I shouldn't have pushed you into that match. You're a rookie and I didn't think I would be fighting Suki and her team. I was just caught in the moment. Do you forgive me?" asked Flash apologetically.

"Flash, I... would love to get back on your team but I've got some important matters to tend to," said Izzy rubbing her arm.

Flash just studied her and was disappointed by Izzy's decision. "Important matters? Look if you joined another team, don't be afraid to tell me," said Flash with a disapproved expression.

"Flash, it's not that at all!" said Izzy waving her hands.

"Then what is it, tell me!" exclaimed Flash.

"I can't!" said Izzy.

"(sigh) I see how it is, I know I was a jerk and all but I was willing to apologize, I was hoping you would get back on my team, I understand," said Flash as he turned away.

"Flash wait!" shouted Izzy as she stuck her arm out but Flash just shrugged her off and kept walking away.

Izzy was saddened and downed her head. She walked away toward the tower with conflicting thoughts running through her mind. As she picked her head up an inkling in a kimono caught her attention. She was holding an umbrella in her arms and looked at Izzy with a saddened expression. "I wonder who she is?" thought Izzy.

As Izzy got closer, the inkling in the kimono squid formed and dropped in the drain she was standing over and vanished. "Where'd she go!?" Izzy exclaimed to herself. She rushed over and looked down the drain. A green ink trail could be seen going down further inside the tunnel. "I wonder?" Izzy thought to herself. Her curiosity got the best of her and she went in after her.

The tunnel was long and dark like the one heading to Cuttlefish's. A light could be seen illuminating at the end of it and she slithered up out of the storm drain and back on the surface. She looked around at her surroundings until she spotted the kimono wearing female. Izzy stared at her for a moment until she pulled the umbrella over her shoulder and gave Izzy an exhausted look.

"So...you decided to follow me," said the girl in the kimono.

"Who are you?" asked Izzy with curiosity.

The kimono girl remained quiet for a moment staring at Izzy. She soon downed her head and gave a long sigh and looked back at her to compose herself.

"My name's Marie... of the squid sisters," she said before giving her signature pose. "But you will refer to me as Agent 2," said Marie as she spun her umbrella.

"Marie? Squid Sisters? Never heard of ya'," responded Izzy giving her a confused look.

"What! Never heard of me! For eel!" Exclaimed a shocked Marie. "What the shell! We were only the most popular duo in all of Inkopolis!" she continued in a stunned expression.

"Of course I have! Just squiddin' ya!" replied Izzy giving her a cheesy grin while rubbing the back of her head.

Marie flustered a little bit from Izzy's comment and shook her head. "(sigh) Well, I'm assuming your Cassie's friend, I recognize you now," said Marie.

"recognize me? We've met before? Wait...agent 2, you're an agent! This is so cool! A squid sister and an agent!" shouted a giddy Izzy as she jumped up in the air.

"Easy, let's get down to business, I'm in charge of Squidbeak for now and you're now an agent...Agent 4," said Marie as she propped the umbrella back on her shoulder.

"Agent 4?" replied Izzy.

"Yes, now come over here, your gear is ready, now suit up so we can get started on your training," said Marie sternly.

Izzy walked over toward the small Japanese styled shack and saw some clothes laying on a table beside a weapon and ink tank. Izzy picked up the fluorescent yellow jacket and studied it. "That's your field outfit as well as your headphones too and shoes, you can change in the shack right there," said Marie.

Izzy went inside and changed into her agent outfit. When she came out she turned around looking at herself and admiring the new clothes. "Wow, this is pretty cool and I like these headphones," said Izzy.

"Focus agent 4!" barked Marie getting Izzy's attention. "As a squidbeak agent your job is to protect Inkopolis from any and all threats. I'm not sure if Cassie went into the full details of what it is to be an agent but I assure this it will be dangerous. So I need your utmost attention agent. The octo rebels pose a threat to Inkopolis and have freed their leader Octavio who as taken Cal...um, agent 1. Their's no bit of telling what else they maybe planning, like attack Inkopolis or swiping the great zapfish again. Pickup the hero shot and your ink tank right there and prepare to shoot at targets," commanded Marie as walked under the rock archway shaped like an octopus. Izzy followed to another area on the floating rock mass to some platforms with a surrounding canyon that it overlooked. There were antennas and caution tape surrounding the ledges of the platforms and soon floating targets could be seen on the other side of the area.

"Ok, Agent 4, make your way to the far side and shoot the targets," explained Marie.

"Piece of cake," said Izzy as she made her way to the training area.

She squid formed and slithered toward the other end of the platforms and changed back once she reached her destination. She spotted the floating balloon targets and shot at them. More targets popped up on floating platforms that were separated from the main one. Izzy managed to shoot them too. "Hah! Too easy!" gloated Izzy.

"Don't get too cocky Agent. There are still more targets you need to shoot," said Marie as more floating targets appeared but they were moving.

"Uh, no problem," said Izzy as she aimed at the moving targets. Izzy missed the targets as they moved. "Focus, Agent," said Marie sternly.

Izzy gave a deep breath and focused at the moving targets, soon she managed to hit them, bursting into ink. "Got em'!" shouted Izzy gleefully.

There is still more targets agent, so get ready," said Marie as she pointed at more targets. The next targets were fixed on the floating platforms and were shooting ink toward Izzy. Izzy jumped and dodged the shots from the targets. "Hey! This isn't funny! I can get splatted!" shouted Izzy as she panicked.

"Then I suggest you shoot at them!" shouted Marie back at Izzy.

Izzy managed to shoot the first target but didn't pay attention and got hit by another shooting target. Izzy burst into ink but came back on a spawn pad nearby. "(gasp) I thought I was a goner, Thank cod this respawn pad is here!" exclaimed a grateful Izzy.

Marie walked over to the agent and gave her a displeased look. "You need to concentrate Agent! This is not some turf battle! This is serious!" shouted Marie angrily.

Izzy gave her a saddened look and turned her head down. "I'm... so, sorry I...need to go sit down, please keep training," said Marie apologetically as she downed head in remorse. She turned away and headed back to the small shack feeling regret from scolding Izzy.

Izzy sat up and looked at Marie as she walked away. She gave a short sigh and then looked back at the training area wondering what was wrong with Marie and why she was acting like this, it reminded her of her infliction with Flash with the turf battle she had with him.

* * *

In Octo canyon, two figures could be seen walking through what looked like a town perched on a large floating landmass. The town was overlooked by a large factory for building Octoweapons. The two figures were Specialist Melvin and Private Selena of the octarian army. The two managed to sneak out of the old commissary that hid at the day prior from the octotroopers that were hunting them.

"Where are we going?" asked Selena to Melvin.

"I'm going to see if we can get inside that factory without having to run into those dumb tentacles," said Melvin.

"But, what about the sergeant and corporal Obi?" asked Selena.

"Maybe they headed inside the factory when the coast was clear," said Melvin. "We might as well keep going until we run into them," said Melvin.

The two of them continued on until they reached a large wall that blocked the end of the street. The wall was tall and the two of them were unsure what was on the other side, so they decided to hunt for a way around and into the factory. Graffiti and signs could be seen on the wall as they looked around and spotted an alleyway. "I wonder if this leads anywhere?" asked Selena as she pointed at the alleyway.

"I don't know, maybe we should keep looking," said Melvin unsure about going down the alleyway.

"C'mon, let's find out," said Selena as she hurried toward the small alley.

"Selena! Uhhh..." shouted Melvin as he moaned.

Melvin ran after Selena down the alleyway but a figure stepped around the corner spotting the two of them entering the alleyway. The figure gave a devilish grin and slowly approached alleyway in the intent to follow them.

The alleyway bent to the right and at the end was a large pipe that seemed to lead up to the floating landmass the factory was on. "See, I told you this could've been a way to the factory," said Selena pointing at the pipe.

"Woah, good job Selena, brains and beauty," commented Melvin.

"Ahhh, you're too kind, Melvin," said Selena as she put her arms behind her back and gave a blush.

"Well let's get going," said Melvin as the two of them went into the pipe in their octo forms.

As the two slithered up the pipe the figure was still closing in behind them.

The pipe went upward and then bent down horizontally. At the end of the pipe was a barred gate that led into a room. They slithered through and changed their forms. "I guess we're inside, but where?" asked Selena holding her octoshot.

"I don't know, but keep your eyes peeled for any of those tentacles," said Melvin as the two of them walked down a corridor leading out of the room. The hallway was long and steam could be seen shooting out of the pipes along each side of the dark corridor. A red light could be seen illuminating toward the end of the hallway. The end seemed clear until they heard a noise as they got closer. The two stopped and soon saw an octotrooper on his platform coming from the right.

"Quick! change form and hug the wall behind the pipes!" shouted Melvin quietly.

The two of them octo formed and latched onto the wall on each side trying to avoid the steam. The octotrooper looked down the corridor for a moment and then turned back to the direction it came from and left.

"Shew...that was a close one," said Selena.

"Stupid tentacle," said Melvin.

The two changed back and cautiously made their way, were the octotrooper was at. Melvin looked around the corner and didn't see the octotrooper anywhere. "So, far so good," said Melvin as he signaled Selena to follow.

The two of them made it to a large room filled with octoweapon parts. There was a staircase leading upward to a walkway. The two went up and headed for a door at the end of the catwalk. Melvin slowly opened the door and peeked inside, vaguely it seemed there was no one around. The two continued through the doorway into another large chamber where parts were put together for the octoweapons. The two walked down the staircase to what appeared to be a conveyer belt. The other side of the room had shelves full of crates and containers.

"This must where they assemble the parts before they go on the main floor," said Melvin.

"How do you know all this?" asked Selena.

"I was an engineer down in the lower levels of the domes when Octavio was in charge," answered Melvin. "I hated it, nothing but noise, no peace of mind whatsoever," said Melvin as he clinched his fist.

"I'm sorry I asked," said Selena.

"It's...ok, it's in the past, now let's keep going before we get spotted," said Melvin. Just then the two them heard footsteps and toward the direction they pointed their octo shots and spotted a figure, fearing they were caught. As the figure got closer they drew down their weapons. It was Obi looking at them.

"Obi!" shouted Selena.

"Dude, where have you been?!" asked Melvin.

"Hiding... like you two, have you seen the sarge?" asked Obi sternly.

"No, we haven't, we were hoping maybe you have," said Melvin before Obi shook his head.

But while the three were talking some other figures were watching the group across the room through a window.

"Where could she be?" asked Selena with deep concern.

"I hope she didn't get caught," said Melvin. "We have to keep looking," he continued.

"Oh, she's been caught alright...LIKE YOU TWO!" shouted Obi. "GET THEM!" he shouted as he pointed at the two. Soon Octotroopers popped out of different areas and behind cover around the chamber and aimed their weapons at the two.

"HA! two birds with one stone, surrender now and we'll go easy on you!" shouted Obi aiming his octo shot at melvin and Selena.

"Obi how could you!" shouted Selena.

"YOU TRAITOR! I oughta turn you into an ink puddle!" shouted Melvin as he glared and barred his fangs at Obi.

"I'd love to see that, oh wait, you can't! We carry the same kind of ink, Now shut up and give up!" barked Obi still aiming his weapon at them.

"Psst...Selena, on my mark dive behind shelves, while I get their attention," ordered Melvin as he whispered to her.

"What! but..." replied Selena.

"Just do it!" shouted Melvin quietly.

"What are you two up to!?" demanded Obi baring his fangs.

"Now!" shouted Melvin as he shot at the octotroopers. Selena darted behind the shelves and Obi took aim at Melvin to incapacitate him. He managed to splat one octotrooper and dove behind a crate. Obi shot toward Melvin and hit the crate he jumped behind. When Melvin had the opportunity he lunged at Obi as he dodged his shots and knocked him to the floor by hitting him with his octo shot. Obi was neutralized for a moment before he sat back up rubbing his head from the strike while the octotroopers closed in on Melvin and Selena.

"uuuhhh...FINISH THOSE TWO!" growled Obi. He got up and staggered to some double doors on the other side of the room while the octotroopers shot at Melvin and Selena.

"Melvin! Your hit!" shouted Seena when she saw ink on Melvin's arm and shoulder.

"It's...fine...let's just survive...we gotta catch that turncoat and find the sergeant," jeered Melvin in pain from the hit.

The two of them got their octoshots ready to fight off the octotroopers that had them pinned down.

* * *

At the Inkopolis Hospital, Cassie and Cuttlefish made their way to the infirmary were Cleo was recovering from her wounds. The two of them were directed by the receptionist who told them where Cleo was and that she was awake. They make it to Cleo's room seeing that she seemed groggy from the painkillers she had been given. She was watching Tv and didn't notice Cassie and Cuttlefish walking in.

"Cleo," responded Cassie as she looked at Cleo.

She slowly turned her head toward the two of them. "Who...are you?" she asked.

"My name's Cassie and this is Cuttlefish. I rescued you from Camper's hideout, remember?" asked Cassie.

Cleo examined her for a moment then it dawned on her who she was. "Cassie, I remember now, thank you for rescuing me," said Cleo giving a smile.

"You're welcome Cleo, it's what squidbeak agents do, but why I'm here is that I heard something interesting... from your sister, Megan," said Cassie.

Cleo gave her a questioning look. "What about her? Is she in trouble?" asked Cleo.

"No, not at all. I met her at the Shellendorf Institute and we talked. I overheard her talking to some staff members and she said something about you and her working for this Kamabo Company," said Cassie.

"Yes, I was wondering myself. This company was the same one that built that pod thing that Blake was found in. A company that's been around since before the humans went extinct. How is it possible that a human-made company is still around and what you and your sister are doing employed with them," asked Cuttlefish pointing his cane at Cleo with suspicion.

"I... (sigh) Me and my sister got a message from them. We weren't sure who they are. They're still a mystery to us and the only contact with them is through a representative named C.Q. Cumber. He's the only one we've ever talked to," explained Cleo.

"So why are you guys working with them if you don't know anything about them and what are their intentions?" asked Cassie.

"Me and my sister were living some hard times and needed money. Megan's job at the institute wasn't enough to pay the bills. So we got a message from them about a job and pay. As for their intentions, I'm not so sure. The company also had connections with the octarians and wanted us to work with them, plus my boyfriend is a...octoling," said Cleo rubbing her arm.

"An octoling? That seems odd, why would an inkling date an octoling?" asked a stunned Cassie.

"Please, don't judge. Not all octarians are bad like you may think they are," said Cleo indifferently as she crossed her arms.

"That still doesn't answer our questions, you don't know anything else?" asked Cuttlefish.

Cleo shook her head to the two of them. "You could ask my sister, but I don't think she would know any more than I do," suggested Cleo.

"Well, we appreciate your cooperation, still I wish we knew more, I hope you get better soon," said Cassie.

"Not a problem, I'm sorry, but thanks, I hope they'll release me soon, good luck with my sister," said Cleo.

As the three of them were finishing their conversation a figure outside in the hallway was eavesdropping on the group. It was Marina wearing her jacket, pants, and sunglasses to hide her identity. "Namabo? A human-made company that created the pod Blake was found in. This is getting strange. I gotta inform Indigo Agent about this if they have contacts within the Octarian society," said Marina to herself. She heard Cassie and Cuttlefish start to walk out of the room and she rushed away out of sight and back to the studio before Pearl found out she left before their morning broadcast.

As Cuttlefish and Cassie left out of the room, Cassie turned to Cuttlefish. "So, what now?" asked Cassie.

"We head to the Shellendorf Institiute where the lass's sister is. Hopefully, she might tell us something," said Cuttlefish.

"Well, let's get going then," said Cassie as the both of them left the hospital.

* * *

Blake was down in Sheldon's range shooting the new ink weapon he had been given. It took some time for Blake to get used to it since the only weapon he had ever used was that old bamboozler Cuttlefish gave him back during the war. Within an hour he managed to perfect his shooting skills and decided to head up and check on Sheldon with the new gear the little crab said he would build.

Inside he headed to the counter and knocked on the door to the backroom of the shop. There was no answer so he decided to walk in and saw Sheldon finishing up his projects.

"Sheldon?" asked Blake as he stepped in.

"Blake! Just in time. I just got finished with some of the new gear you will be getting to help get through Octo Canyon. "said Sheldon excitedly. "How did you do at my range?" asked Sheldon.

"This weapon took some time getting used to but I managed. I did pretty good," said Blake.

"That's great! I'm glad to hear that! Come over here so I can show you the new gear I built for you," said Sheldon waving over Blake.

Blake walked over and spotted some headphones, some odd but cool looking shoes, and an ink tank but it looked different than the ink tank he had ever used.

"These headphones will allow me or Marie to communicate with you while you navigate through the canyon. They are a little bulking and different than the ones we issue out to the agents," said Sheldon. The headphones looked typical enough. They looked like yellow soundproof headphones that could be seen used by range shooters with a glowing blue halo in the center of them.

"These shoes will allow you to jump at great distances across floating obstacles and allow you to wall run if need be," explained Sheldon. The shoes were black with bright yellow trim and designs. They resembled Nike shox shoes with internal air shocks on the bottom of the heels and a bright yellow handle stuck out from the backside of the shoe to boost the user's jump.

"And last but not least this ink tank had a built-in Ink recycler that will allow you to collect your used ink on surfaces and whatnot, but be warned it'll only collect 3/4 of the ink you used back to the tank, so be careful," said Sheldon. The ink tank was different as well. It resembled a clear walled thermos with a d-shaped ring on top along with what looked like a light on the cap of the tank, maybe to warn the user of low ink.

"The recycler is under the lid of the tank and it absorbs used ink to allow for refills and reuse, but like I said It'll only recycle 3/4 of your used ink," said Sheldon again.

"Sheldon, this is remarkable, I don't know how you do it but I really appreciate it, how can I ever repay you?" asked Blake who didn't know how to respond to all this.

"Well, I'll take that old bamboozler you had," said Sheldon.

"My bamboozler, but why?" asked Blake confused.

"It was constructed by my grandpappy and I thought about some modifications I would like to do to it," replied Sheldon.

"Ok? I'm glad I packed it, I thought I was going to use it for my fieldwork," said Blake pulling the weapon out of his backpack and gave it to Sheldon.

"Your gonna need something a lot better than this thing if you're going to face those rebels," said Sheldon as he placed the bamboozler on the table. "Now that you have everything you need you better meet back up with Marie and Izzy at Mt. Nantai. You know where it's at?" Sheldon asked.

Blake shook his head. "All I know is Marie would meet Izzy somewhere in the square and lead her there," replied Blake.

"When you walk toward the tall tower, then look to the left and there will be a drain on the ground. Crawl in it when no one is looking and it will take you to Mt. Nantai, good luck!" said Sheldon as he waved at Blake.

"Thanks for the info Sheldon, I appreciate everything you've done," said Blake. "I'm sorry that your grandpappy isn't around anymore, we were good friends and he helped me and the inklings during the great turf war," continued Blake.

"Thank you for your condolence for my grandfather. I'm doing him proud right now, continuing digging up human artifacts and running the old family shop, building weapons, and other inventions. I'm glad to hear that I'm helping an old friend of his...I'm glad I met you, Blake. I hope my gear proves helpful out in the field," said Sheldon.

"I think it will, thanks for everything Sheldon. I'm glad I got to meet Ammoses's grandson," said Blake as he placed his disguise back on and grabbed the gear that Sheldon made for him.

"Think nothing of it! I appreciate you coming to my shop, It's a dream come true to see a live human! I wish you could stay but I know you got work to do," said Sheldon as Blake turned toward the doorway.

Blake walked out of Ammo Knights and spotted Deca Tower. He headed over without attracting attention. He spotted the drain and waited for the opportunity to jump in when no one was looking and vanished out of sight as he headed down the tunnel to Mt. Nantai to meet up with Izzy and Marie. Let's hope Blake and Izzy is ready for the task ahead of them.


	46. Arc 3 Chapter 4

**Arc 3 Chapter 4**

Blake finally made it to Mt. Nantai with his new hero gear and weapon. As he crawled out of the storm grate he looked around like Izzy did and admired the scenery. He spotted Marie sitting on a mat in front of this Japanese style shack as her command post for the Octo canyon mission. She looked troubled and Blake slowly walked over to see what was wrong. "Marie?" he asked meekly.

"Blake?" she replied as she looked up and saw him. She got up and she did her best to smile hiding her saddened mood.

"It's Callie isn't it," responded Blake.

"(sigh) yes...I'm sorry...it's just I'm worried about her, I... can't believe Octavio would take her like that... that coward, he..." started Marie with a darkened expression as she shook her fists.

"Marie, it's ok... we'll get her back, both me and Izzy, don't chu worry, mark my words Octavio will be brought to justice," said Blake grabbing Marie's hand to calm her.

"Thanks, Blake, I don't know what me and Cal would do without you, please get her back," said Marie as she picked her head back up with pleading eyes.

"you got it but speaking of which, where's Izzy anyway?" asked Blake, just then a figure walked from under the octopus-shaped archway from the training area. It was Izzy looking at the two of them.

Blake turned and looked at her. "I see you're wearing a hero outfit and carrying a hero shot Sheldon built for you. So how have you been doing?" asked Blake.

"I'm...slowly getting better. This agent stuff isn't easy. I thought this might be fun, but..." said Izzy as she turned her head in regret.

"Izzy it's ok, I got your back. You just gotta have some confidence, I'm a bit rusty myself but we'll get through this as long as we work as a team," said Blake reassuring Izzy.

Izzy turned her head around and gave him a smile. "You think so?" asked Izzy.

"I know so, now let's get to work," exclaimed Blake confidently pumping his fist.

"Well before you do anything, you need to change into your hero outfit yourself, you can change in my shack over there," said Marie pointing her umbrella at the shack.

"Alright, Izzy go ahead and head back to the training area and I'll help you," said Blake as he headed over to Marie's shack.

Izzy nodded and headed back to the training area. Marie watched Izzy leave and turned toward the shack Blake was changing in. She slowly walked over and noticed the sliding door wasn't shut all the way. Inside she saw Blake changing into his new clothes and she noticed his physique and bare torso. She blushed and thoughts were running through her mind as she tried to erase them. "No, Marie...just...focus on the mission," she quietly said to herself. As Blake stepped out she covered her face with the umbrella to hide her expression.

"I'm ready Marie, you ok?" he asked as Marie had the umbrella blocking her head.

"It's nothing, just meet up with Izzy in the training area, I'll be there shortly," said Marie still hiding.

Blake had a confused look and headed over to meet Izzy. After Blake left she tried to recompose herself and headed in her shack. She moved Blake's other clothes off the floor as she was stuck in thought. She shook her head and fixed some tea to calm her nerves. After a moment when the tea was ready, she poured some in a cup and drank it. "Oh Cal, I hope to see you again...but not before I have a talk with Blake, I can't keep this in anymore, forgive me, Callie," she said to herself before taking another drink.

* * *

Cassie and Cuttlefish headed to the Shellendorf Institute to talk with Megan, Cleo's sister who was the one that revealed about the company. As the two of them walked in they looked around and didn't see the inkling anywhere. Cassie decided to walk up to a jellyfish staff member and ask where Megan was. The Jellyfish replied that she was in the back but informed the two that it was restricted to staff members only. Cassie ignored them and she and Cuttlefish headed toward the back with jellyfish shouting at them.

Cassie rushed toward the back rooms with Cuttlefish lagging behind. "Woah, lass! I can only move so fast! I'm not the young inkling I used to be!" said Cuttlefish as Cassie looked back at him.

"Sorry, Cuttlefish," said Cassie as she slowed down for the old inkling.

The two finally made to the door at the end of the hallway and heard Megan talking on the other side. "Megan?" asked Cassie as she knocked.

"Who is it?" she responded. "It's Cassie, the one you talked to about the human book you found," explained Cassie.

Megan opened the door and looked at Cassie. "Cassie? What are doing back here, this is only for..." started Megan.

"Look, I need to ask you something important, Cuttlefish and I need to talk to you," said Cassie as she introduced Cuttlefish to Megan.

"Howdy, so you're Cleo's sister aren't you?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Yes, I am, how do you know? Is she ok?" she asked with concern.

"She's fine, we just left the hospital not too long ago and talked with her about a company you two have been working with," explained Cassie.

"Umm... what's this about?" asked Megan nervously as she backed up.

"Lass, I've been informed that you and your sister are working with a company called Kamabo, what can you tell us about them?" asked Cuttlefish as he stared at Megan.

"I...uh, why do you wanna know, there's not much I can tell you but they offered me and Cleo a job with pay," said Megan.

"That's all Cleo could tell us as well, you don't know anything else?" asked Cassie as she approached Cleo as she was still acting as if she was hiding something.

"I'm sure, that's all I know," said Megan still backing away.

"Lass! this is serious, the company that you mentioned is the same one the Bucko had on that card he showed me. I company that was created by humans long ago, the ones that supposedly made that metal pod contraption the lad was stuffed in! Now if you know something, tell us!" demanded Cuttlefish as Cleo tripped and landed on the floor.

She looked at Cassie and Cuttlefish who had serious expressions on their faces and could tell that she couldn't hide the notion anymore. "(sigh) yes, what I've gathered is their name is Kamabo and that it was created by humans long ago, the proof is on that metal pod. Me and my sister moved out of our parents and bought a place on the edge of the city but as months went by we couldn't afford the bills. Cleo's turf war winnings and my job weren't enough to cover all the cost on rent and utilities so we got a mysterious message on our phones about a job working with this Kamabo corporation. We've never heard of them but we couldn't pass up the offer," explained Megan as she got up.

"What else do you know?" asked Cassie.

"They wanted us to do some tasks. I was supposed to open the pod and deliver the human to a drop point. There I was to meet up with a C.Q. Cumber to retrieve the human but that night the human escaped so I informed C.Q. Cumber what had happened," said Megan.

"Ok, then what?" asked Cassie.

"Since my sister was a turf war player she was tasked to infiltrate the inkopolis crime syndicate, which we found out were the ones involved in the human's abduction that night. Cleo was to subdue the human if he was in their possession and bring it to the new drop point but things didn't go accordingly. I just grateful that my sister wasn't..." said Megan as she started to cry.

"It's ok Megan, look just continue, what did Kamabo want with Blake anyway?" asked Cassie.

"I'm not sure, they never told us, your best bet is to get in contact with C.Q. Cumber. He's the only contact we've ever had with the company," said Megan.

"How do we find this C.Q. Cumber?" asked Cuttlefish.

"His number is blocked on our phones. All I know is something about the deepsea metro, that's where he operates but I'm not sure where that's at," said Megan.

"Deepsea Metro? I've never heard of it," said Cassie.

"Well, lass it looks like the trail has gone cold. Unless we find out where C.Q. Cumber and this Deepsea Metro is, we're at a dead-end," said Cuttlefish.

"There's gotta be a way to get a hold of this C.Q. Cumber," said Cassie placing her hand below her chin.

"Maybe C.Q. Cumber will give me a call, so far it's been a while since Cleo was found out, hopefully, he'll call sometime to get a report," said Megan.

"Well if you do hear from him, let us know and see if you can find out where the deepsea metro is," asked Cassie.

"I'll let you know," said Megan.

"Thank you," said Cassie as she and Cuttlefish left.

As soon as they left, Megan got on her squidphone and texted a message to her sister Cleo. She type: Cleo, this is your sister. Cassie and an old inkling came by the institute to talk to me about Kamabo. The ones that said they swung by the hospital to talk to you. They're eager to find out about this company and I told them I would let them know if C.Q. Cumber calls. I don't know what to do. We gotta do something or they'll eventually locate the deepsea metro. I hope you get this message soon and hope you'll be able to get out of the hospital soon, love you sis"

Outside the institute, Cassie and Cuttlefish contemplated what to do now. "What now captain?" asked Cassie.

"Well, for now, we wait unless something else comes up. Let's just head back to my place for now. I wanna try on those new hip clothes my grandsquids got me over a month ago. My old uniform is rather tattered," said Cuttlefish looking at his old uniform.

* * *

Marina managed to make it back to the studio before the morning news broadcast but unfortunately for her Pearl was awake and not happy at all. She opened the door and saw Pearl glaring at her brooding over her disappearance. Her arms were crossed and she was tapping her foot wanting an explanation. "Rina! Where have you been?! I get up and you weren't in your room!" shouted an angry pearl.

"Pearly! I...had to go out! I can't do that!" shouted Marina as she had her hands on her hips with a displeased tone.

"Rina! You know good and well we have to give the news broadcast this morning!" shouted Pearl. "You've been acting strange lately like you're hiding something," said Pearl still glaring at Marina.

"What! Pearl, I would never do that! We're friends!" Marina exclaimed defending herself.

"Out with it! What's really going on!?" demanded Pearl.

Marina was running out of options and her expression was getting more and more obvious. Pearl locked on to her waiting for an explanation.

"(sigh) Ok...I have been hiding stuff from you," said Marina as she downed her head. "I've been talking to an old friend back in the octarian army," she revealed.

"Friend? Octarian Army? Marina, I thought you were done with that, don't tell me your helping the octarians!" shouted Pearl in shock and confusion.

"No Pearl! It isn't like that, she's not in the army anymore! She's...been helping track the situation with what's been going on and all, she's not a threat to Inkopolis if that's what you're concerned about," said Marina. "I would never help any of the octarians if they were plotting to do anything against Inkopolis or any of the inklings," She continued.

Pearl's frustration slowly resolved and she let her arms down and gave a deep sigh and looked back at Marina. "Marina...I'm sorry that I ever accused you of aiding the enemy. I remember you telling me stories of when you were in the octarian army and what you did. I let go of those differences and still wanted to be your friend. Octoling or not, I didn't care," said Pearl as Marina was a little shocked at Pearl's understanding. "Rina! I know we have our differences yo, but I hate it when you keep secrets from me, it just puts a bind on our friendship. I couldn't care less if you talking to an old friend or not," said Pearl.

"Pearly I..." started Marina as she was waved off by Pearl. "Rina, I'm not mad, you're my best friend and I should've never made conclusions, do you forgive me yo?" she asked with a pleading expression.

"Oh, Pearly, of course, I forgive you," said Marina as she gave Pearl a hug.

"Ok, Rina, not so much, I don't want to get all sentimental and junk, let's get ready for the morning news," said Pearl.

"Your right! It starts in half an hour!" exclaimed Marina.

Both of them hurried and got changed and ready before the news broadcast before it started. Marina and Pearl rush to their changing rooms with the two of them putting their differences aside. It would just be a matter of time until Pearl realized what was going on and she and Marina would get dragged into something they might not be ready for.

"You two ready?" asked the jellyfish studio staffer.

They both nodded and headed to their stations fixing their tentacles. "All Right...We're on in 5...4...3...2...1, we're live!" shouted the jellyfish.

"Y'all know what time it is!" shouted Pearl with her usual hand gesture.

"It's Off the Hook coming at you LIVE from Inkopolis Square!" followed by Pearl with a record skip.

"Check it! here are the current battle stages!" shouted Pearl pointing toward the TV screen with turf war stage.

Time went by as the pop duo announced the turf matches for the day and teams that were competing. After their news broadcast was done, Marina and Pearl gave their signature pose and shouted "Don't get cooked! Stay off the hook!" in unison.

The jellyfish signaled that they were off the air. Marina and Pearl split off but Pearl turned to her partner and grabbed her arm before she walked away. "Rina!...I...still wanna say I'm sorry yo! How bout' we go grab a bite at Krusty Sean's. Don't worry Rina, I'll keep those crazed fans away! With my charm and good looks. It's hard to be famous I'll admit," said Pearl as she brushed her tentacles.

"I'll pass Pearl, I'm not feeling hungry," said Marina before walking away.

"But Rina..." said Pearl sticking her hand out.

"Maybe another time Pearl...I'm just not in the mood," said Marina as she went toward the back and closed the door.

"I said I was sorry OK!...Hmpf!" shouted a displeased Pearl as she brooded and crossed her arms. "Fine then!" shouted Pearl as she stormed off.

Marina gave a deep sigh as she leaned against the door to her room after hearing Pearl's shouting. "Pearly...you wouldn't understand. Sometimes you can leave the past but the past sometimes doesn't leave you. Inkopolis is my home and I don't want to see it taken away from me or you. I hope you can truly forgive someday Pearl but this is something I gotta do," said Marina with sympathy. She headed toward her bed and plopped down dwelling on her past and the future of Inkopolis.

* * *

Blake and Izzy had got done with their training and were eager to cross into Octo Canyon. Moments ago when Blake entered the training grounds, Izzy was still unsure she was up for the task. Blake though managed to build her confidence up and the inkling girl told him about her follies in the turf war match she had with Flash and his team.

"Izzy it's just a game, by what Callie and Marie explained to me what a turf war match was but that doesn't mean you should give up. I'm sure this Flash guy will come around. Don't dwell on it and you'll get better over time," said Blake trying to cheer Izzy up.

"Yeah but you're so good, I mean you hit those targets no problem and you didn't crack under pressure. I remember you telling me the story of when you fought the octarians during the great turd war and all. I could never do any of that stuff let alone shot at targets. Maybe I'm...not cut out to be an agent," said Izzy sadly as she downed her head. She plopped down on the ground and placed her hero shot beside her.

"Blake felt sympathy for Izzy and kneeled down to talk to her. "Listen Izzy, I was like you believe it or not when Cuttlefish recruited me on the squidbeak platoon. I didn't think I was up for the task but once I saw what the octarians were doing and hurting the inklings, I brushed that aside and did my best to help Cuttlefish and rescue the inklings. You don't wether you're up for the task until you try and do your best. I have confidence in you Izzy and I think you got what it takes. You just haven't had a chance to show it yet," said Blake as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Izzy looked up at him with pleading eyes and Blake shot her a smile before helping her back up. "You...really think I could be a great agent you?" asked Izzy.

"I know you can, don't let some silly turf war match get you down. Do your best and keep your head up. I think your friend Cassie would feel the same way if she were here," said Blake.

"Oh Blake, thank you for believing in me!" shouted Izzy gleefully as she embraced Blake.

Blake didn't expect the inkling gal to hug him but he accepted her gesture and hugged her back. They pulled away and turned toward the exit to get back with Marie.

"Hey Blake?" asked Izzy as she walked beside him.

"Yeah, what is it?" he responded.

"I'm glad I met you...I was scared of you at first knowing you were the creature that Cassie chased back at Urchin Underpass. I hate what you've been through especially with Camper, I hope you don't hold that against all inklings and that...we can be friends," said Izzy

"Of course. I'm not letting what that punk did to me, make me think all inklings are jerks or something. Cuttlefish and the inklings were kept me from losing hope in this new world I awoke into. I'm glad I wasn't lonely and that I could make friends. I hated that the great turf war couldn't be avoided and that I got kidnapped by those inkling hoodlums that tried to sell me to the octo rebels. Theirs good and bad in everybody, especially humans. So no I don't hate any of you guys for what happened," said Blake as they were almost out of the training grounds.

"I'm so glad Blake," said Izzy beaming a smile toward the human. "But one thing you told me that still baffles me though. You said that you were in a relationship with an inkling back then if I remember right?" asked Izzy.

Blake remained quiet for a moment. He then turned to Izzy with a serious expression and Izzy was thinking that maybe she should've brought it up. "(sigh) yeah, her name was Mimi. She lives in Calamari County like you did. We...were thinking about starting our own family back but with war and Octavio..." said Blake as he trailed off.

"I'm sorry I...should've said anything it's just...I wasn't sure how that work being we're so different and all," said Izzy.

"I think I was just optimistic back then. I should've known that things would've worked out even if I wasn't thrown back in that damn pod by Octavio. (sigh) We both met one another again when I went with the squid sisters to Calamari County a couple of days ago. We were glad to see one another again and that night we spent time together at the garden and caught up on the good ole' days and..." said Blake as his face darkened.

"And...what?" asked Izzy who was curious think that maybe Blake and Mimi did the unthinkable.

"It's nothing I...don't want to discuss it. Let's focus on stopping the octo rebels, I'm sure Marie is winding what's taking so long," said Blake.

"Oh...ok," said Izzy as they continued on toward the shack but not knowing that Marie was watching their conversation from the other side of the octopus archway. She was a little pained to her what was said and shrugged off her emotions and focused on Blake and Izzy getting Callie back.

They reported back to Marie and she permitted the mission to begin. "Well, are you two ready?" she asked. "Ready!" they both shouted in unison.

"Very well then, Sheldon will be intercepting our communications and he's created some kind of contraption to fly around over Octo Canyon to monitor your movements and relay to me about what's happening. Just please be careful you two," said Marie.

"Hello, Hello, is this thing on?" shouted Sheldon on the radio.

"Sheldon?" asked Izzy.

"Yes, I'm here to help you two get through Octo Canyon, like I'm sure Marie explained. Don't fret, I'll get you two through this, though as a reminder my flying eye in the sky won't be able to navigate everywhere especially down deeper in the domes. So be very cautious and watch each other's backs," said Sheldon.

"Another thing. You two won't be together throughout the whole mission. Once you two get deeper in the domes. I want you two to split up and cover more ground," said Marie.

Huh?" they both said together.

"I know it might be a dangerous decision, but that's what I've decided on," said Marie.

"Don't worry I've managed to hijack some spawn pads in the canyon if you should get splatted by the enemy or fall off any of the floating debris," said Sheldon.

"But what about Blake? He's not an inkling. He can't respawn," informed Izzy with worry.

"You're right, I didn't think about that. Blake isn't as vulnerable to enemy ink as you are, but he could still get killed especially if he should fall," said Sheldon in distress.

"Blake could die!" shouted Izzy. Marie had an expression of fear and she turned her head and bit her lip wondering if Blake should stay back.

"I'll be fine! I can take care of myself!" shouted Blake.

"Very well then, just do be careful and also I plan on dropping supplies and weapons when the need arises, I'll be watching your progress, Sheldon out," said Sheldon as he got off the radio.

"Well...I guess this is it, best of luck agents," said Marie.

The two saluted and headed over to the giant tea kettle in the corner that would take them deeper into the canyon. But as Blake began to leave he felt a hand grab his shoulder. It was Marie with a deeply concerned look, staring at Blake with her gold eyes. "Blake...before you leave, I wanted to tell you..." started Marie.

"What is it Marie?" he asked.

Marie bit her lip and turned her head away from him. Blake was wondering what was going on with Marie. She had never acted like this especially around him. "It's..nothing," she replied.

"Marie if you're concerned with my well-being, I can assure you that I'll be alright. I survived inside that pod and that Instrike Camper hit me with. I know this seems different going into Octo Canyon, but I'm willing to put my life on the line to save Callie," said Blake.

"How brave and selfless..." trailed Marie quietly to herself.

"Now I gotta squid sister to rescue! Don't chu worry Marie!" shouted Blake as he rushed toward the giant kettle where Izzy was waiting for him.

"Blake! I..." shouted Marie but Blake didn't hear her and started to climb inside the kettle after Izzy done shot through.

The tea kettle boiled and steamed and shot Blake further into the canyon. "Be careful..." was all Marie could say before she headed back to the shack.

* * *

Deep in Octo Canyon, Callie was lying on a bed after crying herself to sleep from being interned by Octavio and the rebels. She calmed down and was in deep sleep dreaming of seeing her cousin and friends again but soon another dream played in her mind.

There was nothing but a shower of bright white light emanating around her in the dream. A voice could be heard calling her name. "Callie...Callie...Callie..." said the voice as it got louder and echoed through the surroundings.

Soon her vision was becoming clear and the light died down to a room she was in. Her vision was blurry for a moment and she could make out a figure waving their hand in her face. "Callie," the figure said.

She turned toward the figure as her vision cleared and it was Marie but she was in a white and green dress. "Callie, you ok?" Marie asked with a concerned look. Callie noticed she wasn't laying on the bed in her cell. It was an ornate room like something you would see inside a Japanese style home.

"Yeah, I'm fine Marie, what happened?" Callie asked.

"You seemed to doze off for a little bit, I was getting worried, It's your big day after all," said Marie.

"Big day? What are you talking about and why are you wearing that dress?" Callie asked puzzled.

"Callie, you sure you're ok?" Marie asked again. "You're about to get married, remember, I'm your bridesmaid silly," said Marie.

"Married! But I... don't remember..." started a shocked Callie. "Who am I marrying, If I may ask," said Callie.

"Um, Blake...you're beginning to worry me, Cal," said Marie.

"Blake!?... But...he just wanted to be family, remember," said Callie still stunned.

"Well he finally popped the question a month ago and you pushed for the marriage today, you were more than eager," said Marie giving her a smirk.

Callie then looked at herself in the mirror across where the two were sitting at and saw she was in an elegant white and magenta wedding dress. She got up and turned to examine herself. She turned back to Marie who was still a little dumbfounded by Callie's behavior. "So...Blake finally accepted my love for him," said Callie. Marie smiled at her and nodded before giving her cousin a hug.

"But what about gramps and my folks? How do they feel about this?" asked Callie.

"They were more than happy to see you finally get married, It didn't matter if Blake was a human or not. As long as they saw you were happy," said Marie.

"Callie smiled as tears ran down her face. She started to whimper as she said, "This is the happiest day of my life. Now we can be a real family." she embraced her cousin Marie as she cried on her shoulder.

Just then they heard a knock on the door. The knob turned and it was Cuttlefish wondering if his grandsquids were ready for the ceremony. "We're coming gramps, just give us a minute," said Marie as he closed the door. "Well, Bucko is starting to worry," he said before shutting the door.

"Well let's go, you got a wedding to get to and groom that's wondering where his bride is," said Marie before they left. As Marie and Callie walked through the door she was surrounded by a bright white light again.

Callie jarred awake and looked around seeing she was still in her cell. "What a dream," she said to herself. "But why did it have to end? Does this mean me and Blake will get married in the future?" she asked herself.

She sat on the edge of the bed and begin to drift in deep thought. "(sigh) oh, Blake, I hope you come and rescue me like a knight rescues his damsel. I hope that dream I had does become a reality once Octavio and those jerks are stopped and you make me a happy squid," she said. After a moment she laid back down in her bed and wanted to drift back to sleep again and finish her dream but the door to her cell was pounded on.

"You awake squid!?" the unpleasant voice shouted.

The door was unlocked and a octoling walked in with a scar across her eye. "Have a nice nap?" she said snidely.

"As a matter of fact, I did!" shouted Callie glaring at the elite.

"Well it's probably the only good thing you'll get out of this, you're coming with us!" shouted the elite as two more octolings came in and subdued Callie.

"Hey! Where are you taking me!" shouted Callie as she was struggling with the octolings as she was being taken out of her cell.

"Don't you worry about that, you soon won't remember anything after we get done with you," sneered the elite.

"You won't get away with this! Marie and Blake will find and rescue me and you'll see!" shouted Callie as she was being led away.

"We'll deal with those two eventually, well for the human, I'm not done with him yet. We still have plans with him as he comes and saves his inkstain crush," said the elite.

"(gasp) Blake will never fall for your trap and you can forget about me helping you octo-jerks!" shouted Callie again.

"You'll have no choice in the matter," said the elite. "Now, take her outta here!" she commanded.

A steel door closed behind Callie and the two octolings that were restraining her.


	47. Storm Notice

**Storm Notice**

My area will be heavily affected by Hurricane Laura and will very likely be out of power. Won't be working on the story for some time and send prays that me and my family make it through this. Don't when I'll be back at this if at all depending on what happens. Aprriciate everything you guys and pray things get better. Right now preparing for the storm is a much bigger priority and I admit I haven't messed with the fanfic in a couple of days. Hope we get through this.


	48. Storm Notice 2

**Storm Update**

Sorry Everyone, We've been out of power for over a week and still hooked up to a generator. Not sure when we'll get power back. My whole state especially my region has been devastated by Hurricane Laura. I'm asking for thoughts and prayers and hope we get through this soon. Me and my family rode out the storm which at the time when it was over us was a CAT 4 storm with wind gusts up to 140 mph or more. Will never ride out a storm like that again. It had tremendously affected my area with high winds and tornado outbreaks tearing off roofs, destroying buildings, and knocking down power lines. My town looked like a literal warzone. I've never seen a storm this bad! Hurricane Rita was nothing like this and I can honestly say me, my friends and my family are still here by the grace of God. I felt like that was my last day on earth that night the storm rolled in and didn't have time to evacuate because no one could calculate where the storm was exactly supposed to go. Not to change the subject but I haven't forgotten the story, right now we're trying to recuperate from everything and won't start back up on the fanfic until we get electricity again. I can't say when we will but just hang in there. I thank God that me and my family survived and still have a home we came back to. I pray for the ones that lost everything. God bless you all and I pray things go back to normal if they ever do.


	49. Appreciation Notice

**Appreciation Notice**

Another chapters is being worked on and will be released soon. I haven't given up and trying to get back in the groove of things and my motivation is a little low right now but I'm not giving up. Hoping to release another chapter before the weekend is out. Things are slowly getting back to normal so bear with me. Another thing I've thought about doing is something I've been debating on myself whether to do or not is to remake the first Arc. I really want to and just didn't put a lot of effort into being it was based on the great turf war. I wanna remake but in a different narration format and make the chapters bigger and more attention getting. If I do it will be released as a different story and will be called Splatoon Agent Zero: The Great Turf War or Arc 1 Remix, not sure yet. Their will be a lot of differences with new events and how the narrative of the story happens and other new ideas I'm going to add but unlike the main storyline right now. Each chapter will probably released once a week or maybe longer. If I get enough votes to make up my mind then I'll go ahead and do it. Sorry for all the waiting, I pray things get better and for my community and state.


	50. Arc 3 Chapter 5

**Arc 2 Chapter 5**

Blake and Izzy finally made it to Octo Canyon. Izzy was a little dazed from the trip from the kettle and shook her head to resolve the feeling. Blake made it out who was kneeling down on the ground trying not to throw up. "Blake are you ok?" asked Izzy with concern

"I...never want to do that again," said Blake as he slowly stood up holding onto his knees from the nauseating feeling.

After Blake recollected himself the two of them looked around. It seemed they were down inside the canyon seeing the surrounding area was covered by walls of rocks. They looked ahead and saw more floating platforms as they saw below was a giant chasm. They walked down the path and saw multiple obstacles and fencing surrounding the area. It reminded Blake of some kind of construction site of some sort with what appeared to be a sign with an octotrooper wearing a hard hat and octarian writing, probably a warning of some sort.

"What is this place?" asked Blake staring at the environment around him seeing what looked like abandoned mining equipment strawn about.

"You're in Octorock Quarry," said Sheldon on the radio.

"Octorock Quarry?" asked a baffled Blake.

"It's a large open mining site for the octarians. It's where they mine for sardinium until they started uncovering human artifacts and technology," replied Sheldon.

"Sardinium?" replied Izzy. "What's Sardinium?" she asked.

"Sardinium is an alloy found deep in octo canyon. It's very sturdy and was used for construction on their armor and the great octoweapons. I've always wanted to get my hands on some sardinium, think of the possibilities I could use it for," said Sheldon excitedly.

"Focus on the mission Sheldon," said Marie on the radio.

"Marie?" asked Blake.

"Yes, it's me and please refer to me as Agent 2, I wish to inform you two, that there's a zapfish down below, at the bottom of that chasm in front of you. I need you two to obtain it," said Marie.

Marie was back at the training grounds watching Blake and Izzy on a video feed on a TV screen sent from Sheldon's drone. Like Sheldon, she would watch Blake and Izzy's progress in the canyon from her station by the shack.

"Zapfish, but I thought we were here to find Callie," said Blake.

"You are, but retrieving that zapfish will help you. It's powering up the octoweapons and other defenses around the quarry. Plus I don't want those slimy octopi using them for their own diabolical means, They wanna take my cousin, we'll take their zapfish," said Marie in an agitated tone.

"Fine, we'll head down there and take the zapfish," said Blake.

"Good, Now hurry, I'm sure there are octarians patrolling the area. Watch each other's backs and Blake...please be careful, I don't wanna lose you too," said Marie.

"Marie, I can handle it. This is agent zero you're talking to. I fought in the great turf war with Cuttlefish, remember?" commented Blake.

"I know, but I'm sure this is different, the octarians have become more advance and smarter over time, just don't let your ego blind your judgment, now head down there and take the zapfish, Agent 2 out," said Marie getting off the radio.

"She seems concerned about you Blake," said Izzy.

"I'm sure she's concerned about both of us Izzy," replied Blake. "C'mon let's go," said Blake waving at Izzy.

"Well good luck you two, I'll be keeping an eye out," said Sheldon as he got off the radio.

The two of them continued on until the pathway ended. There was a launchpad near the ledge of the hovering platform they were on. "Blake, how are you going to get across over there, you can't squid jump from here," said Izzy pointing out the distance to the next area.

"Don't worry, Sheldon thought of that and built these shoes to allow me to jump over great distances, I just hope they work," said Blake as he looked down at the shoes.

"Wow! Really! I'll meet you there then!" exclaimed Izzy.

Izzy squid formed on the launch pad near the ledge and jumped over to the next platform. Blake was nervous and hoped that his shoes would get him across or it would be a long fall with no metal pod to save him. "(gulp) Well...here goes nothing!" shouted Blake.

He crouched down like an inkling would before they squid formed to gain momentum for his jump on the launch pad. He heard his shoes charge up, what sounded like liquid building up and the shocks above the heel glowed yellow to charge for the jump he was about to do. As Blake leaped up in the air with ink shooting out at the bottom of the shoes, ejecting him to the next platform. Blake was screaming as he landed back down in a burst of ink, much as Izzy did.

Blake fell on his knees bending over to catch his breath from the fear ride he had. "The shoes...worked!?" Blake exclaimed to himself with Izzy staring at him.

"That was so...COOL!" shouted Izzy excitedly as she jumped in the air. Blake stood back up once his legs quit shaking before Sheldon came back on the radio.

"I told you those shoes would allow you to jump at great distances, my inventions never cease to amaze me. Now another thing I forgot to mention when you shoot ink, those shoes will allow you to move much faster and slide around either laying down or sliding sideways if you're stepping on your ink or Izzy's ink," explained Sheldon on the radio.

"Woah, really," said Blake.

"Yep, I thought about that too, since you can't squid form and hide in your own ink," said Sheldon.

"You think of everything, Sheldon," said Blake.

"Thank you, I do my best, I'll keep my eye out and observe your progress, I just hope those gadgets I gave you will make things easier for you while traveling through Octo Canyon and facing any octarians you come across," said Sheldon.

"I'll put them to good use, don't worry," said Blake.

"Looks like there are more obstacles ahead, remember what I told you and you should be able to get through with no problems, Sheldon out," said Sheldon as he got off the radio.

Blake and Izzy looked ahead and saw a pathway of more floating platforms leading toward the quarry. They continued on until they spotted a structure ahead. It looked like a small metal office, something you would see on construction sites. Inside was a desk and clipboard laying on it. On the clipboard was a document that reads:

_A Notice to all octarians in the quarry._

_Orders have been given to all rebel forces in the canyon to set up defenses and patrols to guard the zapfish that we've taken from the inklings and new octarian regime. We're limited on what zapfish we have so stay vigilant and ensure that the zapfish are defended at all times. Defeat is not an option and our rightful ruler Octavio expects that you keep the squid menace at bay. Our goals are not to be compromised to ensure victory over the surface and take back what rightfully belongs to us. That is all. Hail Octavio! Long Live the octo rebels!_

_\- The Octo Samurai_

Blake and Izzy finished reading the notice and looked at each other. "Well. I guess we know what to expect, Let's keep moving and get that zapfish," said Blake as they left out of the small office.

They continued to make their way to the quarry. The pathway ended but nearby was what looked like a large generator with a note taped to a sign. Blake walked over and pulled off the note and read it.

_Due to the circumstances of the situation. We've closed off the pathway leading down below the quarry to halter any attempt by the inkling threat to take the zapfish. The three gushers that supply ink to the generator have been shut off to supply the generator that powers the platforms leading at the bottom of the chasm. The gushers are located at the corners of the upper section of the chasm and defenses and guards have been set up to ensure that no one is to reactivate them. Stay sharp my fellow tentacles!_

"So what are gushers and how do we activate them?" asked Blake as Izzy just shrugged unsure herself.

"Gushers are devices that allow ink to gush out and cover the area around it like a geyser but be careful though, once they are hit with ink, you need to stand back so as your not carried up by the pressure," said Sheldon on the radio.

"So all we need to do is shoot the gushers and they'll activate?" asked Blake.

"Yep, once they gush out, they'll drain below it, into a pipe that appears to lead back to that ink generator that will power the platforms and allow you to continue down the quarry, but be careful as there appears to be octotroopers guarding them," said Sheldon.

"We know, Sheldon, we'll deal with them and turn the gushers back on," said Blake.

"Alright Izzy, let's bust those gushers!" shouted Blake.

"YEAH!" shouted Izzy as she jumped up with a fist pump.

* * *

Cassie and Cuttlefish returned to the shack so Cuttlefish could change his clothes. He remembered the clothes that were bought for him by his granddaughters over a month ago and decided to wear them during their mission. The clothing consisted of a green and white tracksuit. On his feet were black and white slip-on shoes and around his neck were some headphones. On his head was a white beret-like cap that covered his tentacles.

Cuttlefish took a moment to look at his new clothes. "I be digging these fresh threads yo," said Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish's squid slang threw Cassie off, unsure how to act by his "dialect".

"Uh...Captain, why are you talking like that?" asked Cassie baffled by his speech.

"Huh? What is it Agent 3? Hmm...not sure, maybe it's the new clothes or something, I am feeling different," said Cuttlefish as he seemed to return to his normal self.

"Uh...yeah, well what do we do now?" asked Cassie.

"Well, lass, I'm not sure what else to do," replied Cuttlefish shrugging his shoulders.

"How about we take a break, for now, since we can't do anything else, maybe Megan will let us know something," suggested Cassie.

"Alright squid, just call me if you hear anything, peace out," said Cuttlefish crossing his arms giving two upside-down peace signs with his hands.

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "sure, captain, I'll let you know if I hear anything," she said unsure how to make his new behavior.

Cassie left cuttlefish's and headed down the drain pipe. "Geez, ever since he put on those new clothes he's been acting funny, oh well, maybe its just a phase," said Cassie before squid forming and heading back to her apartment.

Later that evening, Cassie was reading, catching up on a story she hadn't read in a while to get her mind off things. She'd wanted to get in contact with Izzy, but knew she was out in the field facing enemies. She was deeply concerned but knew Blake would watch over her. After 10 minutes she closed her book and her eyes sitting on the couch thinking about Izzy and how to find out more about Kamabo.

After a moment passed her squidphone rang. On it was an unknown number and she decided to answer it, unsure who the caller was. "Hello?" asked Cassie answering her phone. A moment passed of silence until a deep broken voice responded.

"I hear you've been trying to track down the Kamabo company," said the voice.

"Who is this? How did you get this number?" asked Cassie sternly.

"I'll go into the details later, If you want to know more, meet me at Sturgeon Shipyard...alone," said the voice before they hung up.

"Hey wait...!" shouted Cassie to the voice but it was too late. "Who was that? And why did they want me to come alone, I guess I better not inform Cuttlefish about this but..." continued Cassie pondering on the voice's demands.

"Well, I guess I'll go at this alone, I just hope this isn't some kind of trap," said Cassie.

She grabbed her ink tank and hero shot before she ran out the door. She rushed out of her apartment and headed toward Sturgeon Shipyard.

Hours passed by as she made her way to the shipyard on the other side of the city. It was starting to get dark. Foghorns and machinery could be heard echoing through the large shipyard. Cassie could be seen walking down a large road lined with stacked containers on each side. She was cautious and scanned her surroundings looking for anyone or anything that could pose a threat. She had her hero shot ready for any kind of ambush that might have been planned for her. Things were slowly getting quiet and it seemed the further she went into the dockyard the darker it was getting. At the end of her path, she walked into a large yard surrounded by containers.

"Hello?!" she yelled. There was no answer as her voice echoed down the large yard. Then after a moment, something caught her eye, she spotted a shadow moving alongside one of the large containers. She aimed her weapon at the direction of the shadow. Then she heard footsteps approaching until a large figure walked under one of the street lights in the yard.

"Good evening," greeted the figure.

Cassie lowered her weapon and stared at the figure. "Who or... what are you?" she asked studying the large creature that revealed itself under the street light.

"My name is Iso Padre," It said. The large figure appeared to resemble an isopod. It's named a play on to what it was based on as it had long whiskers and six arms. It wore a black classy shirt with a white-collar. A gold chain was around its neck. It was also wearing round shaded glasses in front of its eyes.

"Iso Padre?" asked a bewildered Cassie never seeing a creature like him before.

"I work with the Kamabo company. I'm what you may call a salesman. The company has allowed me to walk on the surface for any subjects that may be willing to work or participate in our specialties. I've watched you and that elderly inkling visit and ask our two employees about the company. If you two are willing to know more about us then take this card," said Iso Padre as he pulled out a business card and handed it to Cassie.

She took the card and studied it. It had the company's logo on the front with the words deepsea metro as its address. "Where is this deepsea metro at?" asked Cassie as she looked back at the large isopod.

"The deepsea metro runs deep underneath Inkopolis from its main station to the company headquarters, The main station is located at the cape of Inkopolis in a secluded area of the city," said Iso Parde.

"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Cassie.

"You and that elderly inkling, seem fascinated by our existence. If you want to know more then head to the main station," said Iso padre before he turned and walked away in the shadows.

"Hey wait! I have more..." shouted Cassie as it was too late. The giant isopod disappeared in the darkness. "questions," finished Cassie giving a long sigh afterward. She looked back at the card and then grabbed her squidphone.

She called Cuttlefish who was hoping he'd pick up the phone or wasn't asleep. After a moment he finally answered. "Hello, lass?" asked Cuttlefish.

"Hey Cuttlefish, I just came in contact with this giant creature that says it works with Kamabo, He gave me the location of how to get to the deepsea metro," said Cassie.

"He said his name was Iso Padre," continued Cassie.

"Iso padre? And he told you the whereabouts of the company? Odd...but great news though I've never heard of the deepsea metro," replied Cuttlefish.

"He said it was secluded at the cape of Inkopolis, I've never been there," said Cassie.

"The cape huh? Hmm...The only thing that I know that's located at the cape is a lighthouse. Are you sure that's where the deepsea metro is located at?" asked a baffled Cuttlefish.

"That's what Iso Padre said," replied Cassie.

"Well, I guess we no other choice agent, meet me back at the plaza and we'll make our way there," said Cuttlefish as he hung up.

Cassie put the squidphone back in her pocket and headed back to Inkopolis plaza to met up with Cuttlefish. Still baffled as to why that large creature was willing to give up information about the Kamabo Company and it's whereaouts. Cassie was suspicious and knew something had to have been up. She hurried back to the plaza as she didn't want to stay any longer in the dark eerie shipyard.

* * *

The two agents headed toward the first gusher, but the road there wasn't easy. The gushers were located along the edges of the chasm below and the only to get to them was through floating platforms that went around the chasm wall and a fall would definitely prove fatal for Blake anyway, being he couldn't respawn on a pad above the chasm that was activated by Sheldon. Ahead of the pathway were small floating blocks that looked like sponges. "Well, I'm not sure what to do?" said Blake. "Those little blocks are too small for us to land on," He continued.

"Wait, I think those are sponge blocks," said Izzy.

"Sponge blocks?" said Blake who was baffled.

"Yeah watch," said Izzy as she shot at the block and it grew as it absorbed the ink from her hero shot. She rushed up and jumped on the block and repeated the sequence on the next sponge block until she reached the next platform.

"Woah, seems easy enough," said Blake. Blake copied what Izzy did and reached the platform with Izzy. There were 3 sponge blocks the two had to cross until they eventually made it to the other side on another platform.

The two continued until they saw another obstacle ahead. It looked like a long skinny roller that was moving back and forth covering the platform with octarian ink. Izzy looked at it nervously and decided to coat a portion of the surface with her ink. She slid across before the roller came back and hopped on the next platform. The roller covered her ink back with the purple ink. Blake saw this and copied Izzy before the roller came back around.

The next obstacle was a roller spinning vertically around in the middle of the platform in a circular motion. Izzy took her time and coated the surface with her ink. She saw the roller coming back and jumped out of its path and decorated the surface and jumped to the next platform like before. Blake also copied Izzy like before.

the path to the first gusher was lined with defenses but proved not too difficult for the agents. They finally got near the gusher but not before spotting two octotroopers guarding it. Blake and Izzy were soon spotted and the octotroopers opened fire. Izzy hid behind cover as well as Blake and returned fire when given the opportunity. Izzy splatted one octotrooper while Blake got the other.

Finally, Izzy shot at the gusher with a few hits and the valve flew off causing the gush to erupt with octarian ink. The two jumped back and saw the ink coat the surface and drain down the pipe toward the generator.

"Well, one down two to go, but I don't expect it to get any easier," said Blake.

The two spotted another path leading to the next gusher and made their way toward it. The pathway like the last one was lined with different obstacles and defenses and both of them made their way through until a new obstacle appeared in front of them. It was a platform like the other but it seemed different. It was in two sections, one clean side and the other beside it, covered in octarian ink.

"Watch out! That's a pressure block! Step on the clean section and it triggers the inked section to slam on top of it, crushing you! But there's a 3-second delay before it shuts on you, so be quick!" shouted Sheldon on the radio.

"Got it!" shouted Blake.

Blake was the first one. He jumped on the clean section and as he did the inked section shook, Blake rushed across as fast as he could until it snapped shut. Blake barely made it as he jumped to the next platform.

"Alright Izzy, your turn!" shouted Blake.

"Blake, I can't do it!" she shouted in fear.

"Yes, you can, trust me!" Blake shouted again.

Izzy took a deep breath and hopped on the large block. like before it shook and snapped as Izzy jumped off but she missed landing on the platform with Blake. "Izzy!" shouted Blake as he rushed and grabbed her arm. "I got ya!" he shouted. He pulled her up, scarred out of her life as she caught her breath. She hugged Blake and looked up at him. "You saved me! I thought I was done for Blake!" she exclaimed gratefully. "We're partners, we look out for each other," said Blake as he gave her a smile.

The two of them continued through more of the spreaders and reached the second gusher which was guarded by two octotroopers and one with a shield on its platform.

"That one's got a shield in front of it, we have to think of a different plan," said Blake.

"Oh, I know", said Izzy pulling out a splat bomb.

"good thinking Izzy," said Blake.

She lobbed the bomb taking out all the octotroopers except the shielded one. "Carp! There's still one left!" shouted Blake in irritation. The shielded octotrooper saw them and fired at them. Izzy dove in the ink left behind by the bomb while blake slide sideways to dodge the ink shots. The two of them fired at the little octotrooper but it's shield protected it from the ink shots but its backside was vulnerable.

"Izzy! It's rear!" should Blake as he pointed at the octotrooper.

Izzy nodded and dove into the ink behind the octotrooper as it shot at Blake. She popped out but when the octotrooper spotted her it was too late as she splatted the little tentacle.

"Way to go, Izzy, now let's shoot that gusher!" shouted Blake.

Izzy like before shot the gusher and it erupted like the last one. The ink traveled down the pipe and to the generator.

Blake and Izzy headed toward the last gusher eager to complete the task. They maneuvered through obstacle after obstacle. Jumped from platform to platform. Some of the platforms had fencing around them but Izzy went through in her squid form. The fence was too tall for Blake to try and climb over. "Hey, Blake...try you're wall running ability to get around the fence. There's a floating wall on the left side of the platform you're on," said Sheldon through the headset.

"You sure about this Sheldon, I don't wanna fall to my death. No pressure but I can't respawn! Remember?" exclaimed Blake.

"You'll be fine, trust me," said Sheldon.

"(deep breath) Ok...here goes nothing, I just hope this works," said Blake before rushing towards the wall. He managed to jump on it and the shoes allowed him to hold traction on the surface until he jumped onto the platform where Izzy had watched him. "Whoa...I wanna wall run too, you get all the cool stuff," said Izzy as she pouted.

"Believe me Izzy, I can't tell how scarred I was at least you can respawn. I'll be glad when we open all the gushers," said Blake. The two of them looked ahead down the path and saw the last gusher at the end, along with more obstacles. "One more to go," said Blake as they both continued.

After they got through more spreaders and another pressure block they saw the last gusher. It was still a distance away but Izzy spotted a propeller sticking out of the next platform.

"I wonder how we're going to get over there?" asked Blake.

"With this!" she said. Izzy shot the propeller which in turn allowed the platform to move toward the gusher. "Whoa, now this beats jumping and wall running any day," said Blake as the platform transported them over to the other side. when they got close enough they noticed that it wasn't being guarded. Blake was baffled and the two of them hopped down near the gusher. "Where's the guards?" asked Blake. Izzy shrugged and shot the gusher making it erupt and filling the surface with ink but it wasn't draining.

Why isn't it draining?" asked Izzy.

Wait, their's something swimming around in the ink!" shouted Blake. Just then octotroopers popped out of the ink wearing scuba masks and snorkels. "Octodivers! watch out they can hide in their ink," shouted Sheldon over the headset.

The octodivers surfaced and fired at Blake and Izzy. They jumped out of the way and the octodivers submerged back into the ink but Blake noticed that the end of the snorkel was still sticking out and moving around in the ink.

"Izzy shoot toward the snorkels!" ordered Blake pointing.

Izzy splatted one octodiver while Blake got a second one. The third got shot up at the top of the gushing ink and shot down at the two of them. Blake shot at it but had a hard time hitting it. Izzy's weapon couldn't reach it so she decided to lob another splatbomb. She threw it into the gushing ink and it surfaced next to the octodiver splatting it on top of the geyser of ink.

"The ink filled the pipe once the octodivers weren't obstructing it. The generator soon came on once the ink came up the pipe and powered the machine up. An elevator-like platform traveled up from the chasm allowing the agents to continue their journey deeper into the quarry. When they reached the elevator the sound of the generator woke up an octostriker napping in a pool of ink on his flying saucer above the quarry.

His slumber was broken and he got angry. "Huh?" responded the octostriker. It looked down and saw Blake and Izzy about to enter the elevator. "Intruders!" shouted the octostriker as it hovered up and launched an ink missile toward the two. The two heard the incoming missile as Blake looked up. "Izzy! look out!" shouted Blake as he grabbed the inkling girl and jumped back. The missile landed between them and the elevator. Once the shadow from the octostriker covered them. Blake and Izzy looked up and saw the octostriker glaring at them.

"Where do you two think you're going!" sneered the octostriker in gargled speech.

"Oh great, now we got to deal with that flying tub of lard!" shouted Blake in aggravation.

"I heard that!" shouted the octostiker angrily as it launched another ink missile at the two.

* * *

Back at the Octo rebel base, Sergeant Maxie was doing push-ups on the floor while still shackled to her bed. She still had that dream on her mind and it bothered her that she didn't know what it meant. She heard footsteps approaching and stopped as she got off the floor and sat back on the bed. The door opened and the elite walked in staring at the sergeant. The sergeant bared her teeth and wanted to pounce and maul the elite that she personally knew.

"I was informed of your capture, good thing our little agent managed to catch you off guard. I think you are losing your grip Maxie," scoffed the elite with the scar over her eye.

"Why don't you face me right here right now, unless your afraid you'll lose another piece of your tentacle," said the sergeant taunting her, reminding her of the wound she got from their last fight back on the Saltspray Rig.

"Don't think I've forgotten about this, an eye for an eye...and a tentacle for a tentacle they always say," said the major pointing at her scar. "But I have other pressing matters to attend to, like preparing everything for our true leader, Octavio and initiating our new addition to our army," said the major snidely.

"Octavio! But he should be imprisoned! What are you..." said the sergeant as she was cut off.

"We managed to get him out on early release and brought back a new recruit," explained the major.

"New recruit? Wait, You don't mean...Blake! If you do anything to him so help me I'll..." said the angered sergeant as she clenched her fist and attempted to lunge toward the sergeant, only to be stopped by the shackle.

The major sneered at her reaction and seen the sergeant was on a tight leash unable to reach her.

"Blake? You must mean that human...I wish it were him, but unfortunately, we had to settle for his girlfriend, that oughta motivate him to rescue her. Then we'll have him right where we want him," scoffed the elite.

The sergeant held back her anger and frustration toward her old commander. The word girlfriend stuck in her mind and bothered her for a bit, remembering the inkling girl that almost splatted her back at the Saltspray Rig, only to be saved by Blake, who blocked the attack.

"Why so quiet all of a sudden?" asked the elite. "Wait... you haven't fallen for this human have you?" asked the elite as the sergeant flinched from her question.

"You have, I don't know what you've seen in that human but don't count on ever seeing him again, I wouldn't think an octarian soldier would even show even a slight bit of affection toward anyone especially a human. We're soldiers sergeant, and we're bred to fight not to love, this just shows me how weak you've become, I can't even stand to be your presence right now," scoffed the elite.

"The feelings mutual," sneered the sergeant looking back at the elite.

"Hmpf, That won't be a problem anymore, I'll deal with you once we have all the preparations ready for the operation and after we catch that human," said the elite as she turned and walked out. She locked the door behind her as the sergeant gritted her teeth and bent down on the floor in anguish.

Just then her a small device fell out of her pocket. It was the octopus-shaped communication device that she used to track Blake. She remembered giving him one after they left the Saltspray Rig. The sergeant picked it up. "They must have not found this on me when they searched me, I wonder..." started the sergeant before she shook her head.

"I got to warn Blake...but, what if the rebels intercept this message, If they find this on me, They'll be able to locate Blake, I can't I..." said the Sergeant frustrated on what to do.

The sergeant hopped on her bed and laid there, unsure whether to inform Blake or risk getting him captured. The sergeant rubbed her face and took a firm grasp on the device. She went into deep thought and pondered on what to do.

"Girlfriend...that squid, the one that tried to splat me with that roller," thought Maxie to herself. She stared at the ceiling of her cell in silence before giving a deep breath.

"Why should I care, I can honestly say that major is right...I'm a soldier, bred to fight not love, but I...(growl)...(deep sigh), who am I kindin', I should be focused on getting out of here, but how?" asked Maxie to herself trying to get out of her anguish.

She sat back up and looked at the octopus-shaped device. "I...can't...not now anyway," said Maxie before placing the device back in her pocket. "I hope Blake knows what he's doing...I don't want him getting captured. (deep breath) stay focused Maxie, you'll get through this and kick that major's ass when I get out of here," she said before getting back on the floor and continuing her push-ups.

Thoughts were running through the sergeant's head as well as mixed feelings for the human. She managed to get her mind off things and focused on escaping and continuing the mission. Still troubled by what the major had said as it continued to eat at her as she continued her physical training inside the cell.


	51. Arc 3 Chapter 6

**Arc 3 Chapter 6**

In Octo Canyon. Blake and Izzy, now agents 0 and 4 were navigating through Octorock Quarry to obtain the first zapfish being held by the rebels. They had both traversed through multiple obstacles and faced multiple enemies to reactivate the elevator that would take them down to the chasm below, where the zapfish was located but as they did they unintently awakened a new threat that proved to be a challenge for the two agents.

Blake and Izzy were evading ink missiles being fired from a pissed off Octostriker that had been disturbed from its sleep. Blake had run toward the left while Izzy ran to the right. "Blake! What do we do!" shouted a terrified Izzy.

"Just avoid the missiles! I'll think of something!" shouted back Blake.

As Blake watched the octostriker prepare another ink missile, he saw multiple floating debris and square-cut rocks hovering over the chasm around the octostriker. Blake stopped and turned toward the direction of Izzy. "Izzy!" he shouted.

"What!" she yelled back.

"Maybe we can hop and climb on the debris around the octostriker since our weapons are out of range!" shouted Blake.

"Are you crazy Blake!" yelled Izzy.

"It's the only way we can reach that fat flying tentacle!" yelled Blake as the octostriker got angrier hearing this as it launched a missile toward Blake.

"Blake! Look out!" shouted Izzy as Blake jumped up and grabbed a floating platform before the missile impacted.

Blake climbed up and jumped to another hovering piece of debris before the octostriker zeroed in on him. Izzy attempted to hop on a nearby floating platform and copied Blake hoping from debris to debris. The two them got level with each other facing the angered Octostriker. "Pesky inkstain and fossil! I'll splat both of you to next week!" It shouted in a deep gargled voice.

Blake and Izzy traversed through the debris as Blake was hopping from floating rock to rock as he shot at the octostriker. Using coordination and speed he evaded the missile fire from the flying octarian but he was having a hard time hitting it. Izzy on the other hand squid jumped from rock to rock in an attempt to flank the octostriker while Blake was trying to hit it. She got high and dove down shotting her heroshot at the octarian but it spotted the ink fire and almost got hit. It then lined it's shot on Izzy but Blake took advantage of the octarian taking it's attention away from him. Blake charged up his shoes and launched himself like a missile at the octostriker landing a powerful blow on it's stomach causing it to spin out of it's hover and hit a flying piece of debris.

Blake was now falling and Izzy quickly grabbed his hand and the two of them landed down on a close hovering platform. "Thanks Izzy, They may have been too risky," said Blake. Once the Octostriker recollected itself and turned it's attention back to the two agents.

It shot an ink missile at Izzy first. Izzy jumped up to another piece of debris and the missile struck the floating rock she was on. Blake moved in on the octostriker and it turned to see Blake moving towards it. "Oh no you don't!" shouted the octostriker.

It fired another missile at Blake before he managed to jump away while Izzy hopped closer to the fat octostriker. "Blake! I'll keep it distracted while you get closer to it," shouted Izzy. She turned toward the octarian and got its attention. She turned around and smacked her butt before sticking her tongue out other gestures toward the large octostriker. It flew up and flailed its arms and moaned as it's face got red from the taunts.

"Why you little inkstain!" growled the octostriker. It launched more missiles at the inkling girl as she hopped from platform to platform while Blake moved closer toward the octostriker. As Blake got in range, the octostriker caught him in the corner of his eye. Blake took the shot as the fat octarian shot a missile towards him. Blake hit him right in the goggles and the octostriker descended downward as it couldn't see. The last missile shot towards Blake, but as he jumped out of the way, it struck the platform and Blake caught the blast from it. He was knocked into the air and slung to a nearby platform. His body laid motionless.

"Blake!" shouted Izzy as she squid formed and made her way to Blake. When she reached him, she kneeled down and shook him. "Blake! Blake! Answer me!" she shouted in panic.

The octostriker shook it's head and spotted the two agents on the platform in front of it. "You're going to pay for that!" jeered the octostriker angrily.

Izzy panicked as she saw the octostriker ready for another attack. "Blake! Get up!" she shouted with deep worry as she shook Blake's body. The octostriker fired a missile at the two but it flew over them and Izzy aimed her hero shot at the fat octarian. She lined up her sights before the octostriker zeroed in on her position. Izzy pulled the trigger and shot the octostriker right in the stomach causing it to propel backward and strike a floating rock behind it. It splattered into yellow ink and the octostriker was finally defeated.

Soon Blake moaned and started to move. He slowly got up off his stomach and looked at Izzy. "Izzy? uhhh...what a headache," said Blake holding his head.

"Blake! You're ok!" shouted Izzy as she hugged him tightly.

"Ok! Ok! Easy!" exclaimed Blake as Izzy let go of him.

Blake stood up with Izzy and made their way to the elevator that would take them down further into the chasm below.

"Blake! Blake! Are you there!? Are you ok!?" shouted Marie over the radio. Marie watched their battle with the octostriker from the video feed and saw Blake was hurt during the fight.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just shellshock is all," explained Blake.

"I'm so glad you're alright, that was some good teamwork you two. I'm glad you defeated that fat tentacle, now you can move on and capture the zapfish," said Marie.

"Well Izzy did a great job of distracting that octostriker, I couldn't have done it without her help," complimented Blake.

"I'm glad you put those shoes to good use," said Sheldon cutting in.

"Yeah, they've been a huge help, I just hope we don't run into anymore octostrikers on the way," said Blake.

"Ok, you two get in the elevator and catch that zapfish. The sooner you obtain it the sooner you can get to Callie, now hurry!" said Marie as Blake and Izzy hopped on the elevator and headed down.

* * *

Back at the square, Flash was brooding over Izzy. His friends were unsure what to do and remained quiet trying to get his mind off things. "Flash, you need to quit dwelling on Izzy. She's probably just overwhelmed and needs some downtime is all," said Jazz.

"Yeah, bro, lighten up, it was just a turf war match, no need to get bent out of shape about it," said Ben.

"I know, It's just... (sigh)I feel bad for snapping at Izzy, I was just... I couldn't stand losing to Suki and her team," said Flash before banging his head on the table.

"Dude, you need to get this off your chest, I don't think it was only because of losing the match was it. You found out that Suki was telling some stuff about you to Izzy. I think you've got a crush on the little rookie," said Jazz giving him a smirk.

"WHAT! T...That's not true! I...guess I do, I just don't know how to tell her..." said Flash after his outburst.

"Bro, just let her know how you feel," said Ben.

"I don't know, It's just... I thought I saw her walk in Ammo Knights with another inkling. He had that phased out ponytail style and he was kinda tall for an inkling come to think of it," said Flash.

"Maybe it was her brother or something, you don't know," said Jazz.

"Yeah, man, I wouldn't fret over it, like I said just let her know how you feel," said Ben.

"You're right! But one thing, I never got her squidphone number!" exclaimed Flash as he panicked.

"Flash it's ok, I'm sure her friend does, what's her name?" replied Jazz.

"I think it was Cassie, I've heard her name before. She was a well-skilled turf war player back in the day. An S rank I believe, just ask her for Izzy's number," said Ben.

"I don't know where she even lives, how am I going to be able to get a hold of her?" asked Flash.

"Dude, just ask around I'm sure she's got friends in the square too," said Jazz.

"Yeah, Bro, Let's just walk around and ask," said Ben as he got up.

"Ok, then, I just hope I can get a hold of Izzy before she decides to not talk to me again," said Flash as he stood up.

"Don't think like that, Flash, I'm sure Izzy doesn't hate or anything," said Jazz as she stood up too.

"C'mon let's go ask around," said Ben as he waved at the two.

The three of them soon left and walked around asking all the inklings if they knew where Cassie was for much of the day. But unknown to them and the rest of Inkopolis something big was going to soon go down that would halt inkling society and the turf war games. Let's hope it can be stopped before it's too late. In which, a mysterious figure was hiding in the alleyway watching the inklings. They soon turned their gaze toward the great zapfish perched on the Deca Tower, looming over the square.

"Ha, those stupid squids won't realize their about to lose their precious zapfish. The zapfish that once belonged to the octarians that was taken from us years ago. Soon these wretched inkstains will find out how miserable it is to live without power. I can't wait to see their faces once we swipe the great zapfish, then no one will stop us," sneered the figure as it grinned.

It removed it's cloak revealing to be an octoling soldier with dark red tentacles. She turned back to the alley away from the square and got on her comms. "Sergeant Major to base, come in, over," she said on her headset.

"This is base command, report," said another octoling rebel on the headset.

"I've spotted the target, it's located on top of a tower in the middle of Inkopolis Square, over," said the sergeant-major.

"Confirmation, nice work, return to base and we'll begin preparations to take the zapfish," said the octoling over the headset.

"Wilco, Me and my team are headed back to Octo Canyon, I'm getting tired of watching these inkstains. I'll be glad when start crying over their precious zapfish once we steal it," sneered the sergeant major. Three more octolings jumped down from their positions from taking overwatch, making sure they weren't spotted. "Alright, let's move out! I can't stand being here anymore!" exclaimed the sergeant major in irritation.

"Yes, ma'am," the octolings saluted as they all octo formed and shot out of sight but the noise grabbed the attention of another figure on the other end of the alleyway, walking by. They turned and looked and only saw multiple blurs of figures disappearing. "Huh...what was that?" asked the figure looking down the alley. It was Spyke the urchin vendor. He was confused at what he saw and shook his head. "What's with these alleyways," he said to himself. "first the plaza now the square, I think I've been hanging around here too long and I'm starting to see things. Glad I quit selling gear for the turfers, I think that job was getting to me, I was starting to talk to the snails," said Spyke as he struggled his arms and continued on.

* * *

Further down Octorock Quarry, Blake and Izzy hopped out of the elevator. They could see the bottom of the chasm below them. Another pathway led further down a structure that could be seen ahead. It was guarded by three octotroopers and one twintacle sitting on top of the structure. "Oh, great more of those talking tentacles, well let's get going Izzy," said Blake with slight irritation.

The two of them made their way to the structure until they were spotted. The twintacle shouted "Stop them!" as it glared angrily at the agents. Izzy inked the area ahead of her and dove in the ink. Blake sprayed ink towards the octotroopers as they fired back. Izzy jumped out of the ink and shot two of them while Blake got the third as he slid sideways through the ink hitting it. All that was left was the twintacle that had vanished out of sight. "Hey! Where'd that fourth one go off to?" asked Blake.

Izzy looked around and saw a purple splat bomb land between them. "Watch out!" she screamed. Izzy dove back into her ink and Blake jumped away from the blast. The twintacle jumped down on its platform and shot it's blaster rapidly coating the area around it causing Blake and Izzy to take cover.

"Watch out for that twintacle! They're faster and stronger than your typical octotroopers!" shouted Sheldon on the radio.

Blake shot at the twintacle but avoided his fire and shot back. Blake quickly took cover while Izzy moved through the ink. The twintacle spotted her movement and shot towards her, in turn causing her to jump out. The twintacle hit her and she was knocked back on the floor. "Izzy!" Shouted Blake. He gritted his teeth and jumped out of cover and into the air. He aimed down at the twintacle who was not paying attention and took a couple of hits incapacitating it. Blake finished it off once he landed back down and shot it off its base.

Izzy sat back up and shook her head. "Ow, that hurt," she said holding her stomach. Blake gave a deep breath once he saw Izzy was ok.

"Good thing you're wearing the hero suit, It'll protect from getting shot at by enemy ink, but it'll only hold up for three hits, after that it won't protect you anymore," explained Sheldon.

"That's good to know," said Izzy as she got up.

"Blake, unfortunately, I didn't make your outfit resistant to enemy ink because well, you're a human and not as affected," said Sheldon.

"Not affected, It still hurts, I remember my body going numb from Cassie shooting me in the back!" exclaimed Blake in irritation.

"I didn't think Ink would be that effective on a human, sorry about that, note to self," said Sheldon rubbing his head on the other line.

Blake gave a deep sigh while Izzy just remained quiet. The two soon continued on until Sheldon interrupted them. "Hey! before you two head to the next area. My flying eye in the sky had spotted some Octosniper sentries scanning the quarry. Since you two killed that Octostriker, the quarry has been put on high alert. I've decided to airdrop you another weapon for the task. So heads up! Literally!" shouted Sheldon. Just then a shadow appeared over in front of the two agents. They jumped back and watched a case land in front of them with an intertube on the bottom of it to break its fall.

They approached the case as it opened and inside was a long weapon almost resembling a sniper rifle with a scope and tank on the back of it. Blake picked it up and studied it. "What is this thing exactly?" asked Blake.

"It looks like a charger," said Izzy.

"You're right, it's the hero charger! That weapon will allow you to hit your targets at long range. Just look down the scope and aim the crosshairs on your target," said Sheldon.

"kinda like my bamboozler," said Blake.

"Not exactly. Chargers have a longer range than those old primitive bamboozlers and unlike a bamboozler, those weapons can charge up. The longer the charge the longer the range. But I warn you they take a lot of ink so be sure to spend your shots wisely," said Sheldon.

"Appreciate the information, Sheldon," said Blake.

"You're welcome, remember to make your shots count," said Sheldon.

Blake looked at Izzy who was staring at the hero charger. "Izzy, no offense but I better use the charger, you still need practice with your shooting skills," said Blake.

"What! I'm not that bad!" exclaimed Izzy puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms in frustration. "But fine," she said with her irritation resolving.

Blake took point with the charger in hand as he scanned the area. They both headed down a catwalk that hugged the wall of the quarry, just as they were walking Blake spotted something on the ledge of a platform ahead of them on the far side of the quarry wall. They ducked down behind some cinder blocks and saw an octosniper scanning the chasm. Then Blake saw another octosniper further out on the opposite side of the chasm from where he was at.

Blake lined a shot on one of the octosnipers through the scope. When he had the crosshairs on the large tentacle he pulled the trigger. A stream of ink launched out of the barrel and splattered the octosniper where it was perched. "Nice," sneered Blake.

"Let me try!" shouted Izzy.

But just then the Octosniper jumped seeing one of its comrades get splattered and turned toward Blake and Izzy. It glared at the two and lined a shot on them. A stream of ink flew past the two agents. "Oh, carp! It spotted us!" shouted Blake as they dove for cover.

Another Octosniper joined in on the fray and lined up a shot toward the walkway. Blake and Izzy were pinned down when all of a sudden more octotroopers appeared on the ledge wondering what was going on. Blake soon thought of a strategy. "Izzy!" shouted Blake.

"Huh?" responded Izzy. "I want you to ink up the path ahead and ambush those octotroopers before they decide to head in our direction. Ink the area around and jump out when they least expect and splat them! I'll cover you and focus on those Octosnipers, we can't move ahead until they're dealt with," said Blake.

Izzy nodded at the idea and did what Blake asked her. Blake sat up and aimed at the second octosniper and missed. "Dammit, it!" jeered Blake.

The octosniper shot back followed by the third. Meanwhile, Izzy slithers behind a wall not far from the octotroopers who were making there way toward them. Izzy splatted one of the first octotroopers followed up by the rest of them retaliating from their fallen comrade. Izzy inked up the area in front of them and dove in while in her squid form, jumping out and splatting them at every given opportunity.

Blake lined up another shot and was successful. The octosniper burst into yellow ink with the third lining a shot on Blake coming close to hitting him. "Shit! That was close!" shouted Blake ducking down.

Izzy finally finished off the last octotrooper and jumped up with her fist up in the air. The octosniper spotted her and lined up a shot on the inkling girl. Blake popped up and saw a laser lined on Izzy from the octosniper. "Oh no, Izzy!" shouted Blake as he lined another shot. Two shots could be heard echoing through the quarry. Izzy stood and froze with a stunned look. She spotted a fresh purple splatter on the wall in front of her and a little bit of octarian ink alongside her cheek. The feeling of the ink stung as Izzy wiped it off.

On the catwalk on the other side of the quarry. The last octosniper's eyes were rolled back and a yellow splatter of ink was on its forehead. The octosniper fell on it's back and splattered into yellow ink. Izzy turned from the slain octosniper to Blake who had his hero charger aimed at the tentacle. Blake gave a deep breath and set the hero charger down and stared at Izzy who stared back at him.

"You...ok, Izzy?" asked Blake who had an exhausted look on his face. "Yeah, thanks for saving me...again," said Izzy after she gave a slow nod with a blush.

Blake walked toward Izzy who in turn gave him a hug. Blake patted her head before she let go and gave him a grin. "(sigh) I'm glad I took the shot, I hate to lose you," said Blake.

"Blake...you do know, that I would've spawned back if I got hit right," explained Izzy.

"Yeah, but...It just brings back memories of the great turf war...spawn pads didn't exist back then," said Blake as he clutched his Hero charger and downed his head. He slowly walked away and continued down the path.

Izzy had a concerned look on her face. She picked up her weapon and followed Blake worrying about him as he remained quiet. Shooting at the octosnipers and facing the octostriker reminded Blake of his dark days back when he was fighting the octarians during the great turf war with Cuttlefish and the inklings.

* * *

Deep in Octo Valley at the rebel base Octavio was in front of the masses of the octo rebels about to give a speech. He was perched in his octobot king hovering DJ booth surrounded by octarians standing around him in a giant chamber. The chamber looked like a concert with Octavio giving the performance. In the center of the chamber was a large circular platform that was propped up from the bottom. Below was a large vat of Octarian ink powering parts of the chamber.

"Fellow, Octarians!" roared Octavio. "Now is the time to strike Inkopolis and those inkstains once in for all! We will take the great zapfish from them and watch those miserable inklings perish without their precious power supply! They will soon know how it feels to live with power as the helplessly try to survive. Once they're weak and vulnerable we will attack their precious city and enslave the inklings then we'll be dealing with those hipster traitors back at Octo Valley! We will reduce those inkling-loving turncoats into nothing but pools of ink as they will soon know the wraith of DJ Octavio!" sneered Octavio in front of the cheering crowd.

"Now go and take what rightfully belongs to us!" shouted Octavio as the audience of octarians gave him a standing ovation. They rushed to exit the chamber and headed to their stations and massed into the Octozeppelins to prepare to swipe the giant zapfish from Inkopolis.

As the crowds left one octoling elite stood back and octo jumped on the platform that Octavio was hovering above. She approached Octavio with him looking at her. She bowed in front of him. "My liege, I have a message from the Red Queen, sir," said the major.

"The Red Queen, what does she want?!" asked the giant octopus who gave her an irritated glare.

"She wishes to inform you about the continuation of Operation Teal Dawn. I know grabbing the great zapfish is of utmost importance but she has ordered for you to send some of our forces over to "the vault", said the major trying her hardest not to anger Octavio.

Octavio's eye twitched and his expression grew discontent. He grabbed the major with his tentacle and stared at her face to face. "See here squirt, I don't take orders, I give them! This Red Queen may have decided to release me but I'm the one in charge down here! Got it!" roared Octavio as he dropped the major.

The elite caught her breath and looked back up at the towering octopus. "I don't exactly what the goal of this Operation Teal Dawn is but I want no part of it! "The Vault" is to remain sealed at all costs. All I know is that it was constructed by humans long ago like the domes we dwell in. The domes we've been banished too long ago by that hipster Cuttlefish and the inklings! And speaking of humans, I want that fossil caught and brought to me immediately! I'll make sure he dies this time!" sneered Octavio.

"Y...Y...Yes my liege, I'll make preparations to take the great zapfish," said the major as she octo formed and jumped out of sight.

"Hmpf, who does this Red Queen think she is giving me orders! Once we invade Octo Valley, I'll confront this Red Queen, being that she did release me, I'll spare her life but I'll be sure to make her my personal servant. Operation Teal Dawn... Hmpf... more like commence Operation Red Storm once those traitors know what happens when you turn on your ruler!" sneered Octavio in the middle of the platform as he laughed.

The major was hiding out of sight listening to what Octavio had said. "This isn't good, the Red Queen isn't going to like this one bit but he is our ruler and I have to obey his commands... for now," said the Major as she rushed away but not before running into the rebel Sergeant Major that was watching the great zapfish.

"Sergeant Major, you're back sooner than I thought," said the major as the octoling approached.

"You seem nervous about something, that's not like you," said the sergeant-major examining the major.

"(deep sigh) It's Octavio...he's not following the Red Queen's plans. That stubborn overgrown octopus, this will put a damper on our operations. We have to do something," said the major.

"No matter, we'll play along for now. He is still valuable and hopefully he'll have a change of heart and if not well...not to change the subject but I heard that you caught a little birdy," said the sergeant major as she gave a devious smile.

"You must be referring to that thorn in my tentacle sergeant Maxie and yes, she has been apprehended. Must be losing her touch...due to her weakness," said the major.

"weakness? Didn't figure her to have a weakness, shame she couldn't have joined our cause or the rest of those turncoats. She and those valley traitors can join the inkstains once we achieve victory," said the sergeant-major.

"So what do you have to report?" asked the major.

"Nothing more than watching those wretched inkstains and locating the great zapfish. It'll be easy pickings. It's on top of a tower overlooking the square. Our troops will have no problem locating it. Stupid squids aren't even guarding it. Their only power supply and it's out in the open for us to take," said the major.

"I'm not surprised, too busy worried about being "fresh" and those stupid turf wars, we'll give them a turf war alright, go and rally up the troops to prepare and take the zapfish," ordered the major.

The sergeant-major nodded and headed to the exit waving up her cape as she walked out. The major was still trouled that Octavio wouldn't follow through with Operation Teal Dawn and hoped that things would change and waited for more orders from the Red Queen and play along with Octavio's plans.

* * *

Izzy finally caught up with Blake still carrying the hero charger. He appeared focused on getting to the zapfish at the bottom of the chasm. The pathway dropped down with Blake and Izzy hopping from platform to platform running through any obstacles or traps they came across until the finally reached the bottom. At the bottom was a large open area filled with mining equipment. Blake and Izzy scan around for any more enemies until they spotted something ahead. It was some fairly large octarians wearing what appeared to be roller skates and a construction helmet strapped to its head concealing its eyes.

"What are those?" asked Izzy.

"I'm not sure, I've never seen those kinds of octarians," said Blake as slowly made his way toward them. Blake got ready to attack then when he and Izzy were soon spotted. The octarians were startled and jumped up from the sight of the agents. They ran away leaving a trail of ink and dropped splat bombs around the open area and fled.

"I guess they didn't feel like fighting," said a stunned Izzy as the octarians disappeared.

"Those were Tentakooks, They were probably the mining crew down in that quarry. They're not known for directly attacking their adversaries but I wonder why they retreated?" pondered Sheldon on the radio.

"Guess they were smart enough not to tangle with the squidbeak squad," said Blake proudly.

"Yeah, we showed them!" shouted Izzy.

"Ok, you two, hurry and grab the zapfish and make your way down to the domes," said Marie sternly on the radio.

"Got it, Agent 2," said Blake as he and Izzy headed for the zapfish in the middle of the pool of ink the tentakooks left behind. The little electric fish was contained in an orb hooked to a machine powering the area around them. floodlights shined on the area were the zapfish was and on the floor was a metal circular large hatch that was covered by the octarian ink. "Let's be careful, remember what Marie said before. that if their's a zapfish, then there's an octoweapon guarding it," said Blake reminding Izzy.

Blake slowly made his way to the pool of ink. He walked through the ink forgetting that the enemy ink would slow him down. He soon got stuck in the ink and couldn't move as he got near the zapfish. "Oh carp! I'm stuck!" shouted Blake as Izzy started to fret when all of a sudden a loud mechanical noise emitted from under the ink. "What was that?" said a startled Blake.

Izzy looked around then when she turned back to Blake, soon sharp jagged metallic teeth appeared around Blake and the zapfish around the pool of ink. Blake looked around and knew exactly what it was and he stared back at Izzy with a horrified look. Soon the teeth closed and snapped shut as the large octoweapon ate him and the zapfish out of the pool of ink.

"BLAKE!" screamed Izzy. The octoweapon then raised it's head and stared at Izzy with it's glowing purple eyes. But all of a sudden Blake shoot out of its mouth, busting some of its teeth when he jumped out. He landed on the ground catching his breath. "That was too close!" exclaimed Blake before he turned back to the machine. It was an Octomaw, but it had augmentations built on it. It had large tubes being fed into its head and what looked like electrifyied wiring around it as it sparked. Instead of a mesh screen hiding its eyes it was clear glass one revealing the inside of its head and its glowing eyes.

"What is that thing!" shouted Izzy.

"That's an Octomaw! But's it's different from the one agent 3 faced back in Octo Valley 2 years ago. It seems to have been fitted with some upgrades since it was last deployed," said Sheldon in a troubled state.

"I've should have known grabbing that zapfish would've been too easy. I guess the octarians decided to improve their mechanical guppy after it was destroyed by agent 3 years ago, be careful you two, It seems to be electrified, their's no telling what else that thing has in store for you," said Marie.

"Meet the improved Shocker Octomaw!" shouted the octoweapon in a robotic voice as it glared at the two them. "Prepare to be shocked!" It shouted again as it gave a mechanical roar and dove back into the large pool of ink.

"It swallowed the zapfish! We're going to have to beat it if we're going to get it back," said Blake as Izzy held her hero shot up and nodded.

The two of them looked around the ink for any signs of movement. Izzy spotted a metal fin headed for them out of the ink. Then its teeth appeared around the two ready to shut. "Oh, no you don't!" shouted Blake as he grabbed Izzy and jumped away before the octoweapon snapped it's mouth shut. Blake turned toward the giant fish and shot it's teeth out. It was dazed and dropped back into the ink exposing the tentacle. Blake shot the tentacle and it spewed purple ink and disappeared back into the floor.

"Izzy! Just follow my lead! I've faced an Octomaw during the great turf war. Just avoid being eaten and aim at its teeth until the tentacle pops out then shoot at it!" explained Blake.

"Ok, shoot at the teeth then the tentacle, got it!" said Izzy.

The two looked around again and spotted the fin heading towards them but the fin was sparking and the ink behind it was electrified. As Blake and Izzy avoided the sparking fin they got shocked by the ink behind it. "AAAHHH!" they both screamed getting jolted. They both sat down on the floor and soon its fangs appeared around them again, but they were glowing. Blake and Izzy jumped out as fast as they could and the teeth shut causing them to spark.

Izzy shot at the teeth as they sparked and busted away. The Octomaw spun and dove back into the ink exposing the tentacle out of its mouth. Izzy took no time and rushed toward the flailing tentacle, shooting at it. It burst into ink like before and Izzy squid jumped out of the way and back onto the floor near Blake.

The octomaw stood up and stared at the two of them as a new set of chompers popped up. It roared and flopped around before diving back in the ink. "Stay vigilant Izzy! Their's no telling what it's going to do next!" warned Blake. The two agents watched in anticipation as to what the octomaw would do next.

After a moment the fin emerged and swam around them in a circular motion like a shark circling its prey. The fin vanished and soon the ink under the two agents and around the area was electrified. Blake and Izzy were jolted and couldn't move. They were stunned from the electricity and were jeering from getting shocked. All of a sudden the teeth around them appeared and the two of them couldn't move. Blake took action and aimed his weapon at Izzy fighting the current running through his body. Izzy was stunned and didn't know what Blake was doing. "Blake!...what are doing?!" jeered Izzy who was both confused and stunned by Blake aiming his weapon at her.

"For...give me Izzy," jeered Blake fighting the electricity coursing through his body.

Blake fired his weapon knocking Izzy back out of the mouth of the octomaw before it closed. The teeth shut and it's body rose. Izzy was flung out of the way by the shot and laid on her back, looking back up at the octoweapon. She stared at the giant mechanical fish with horror seeing Blake get eaten and saving her before its jaws shut.

She gasped and covered her mouth. "BLAAAKE! NOOOOO!" she screamed. The octomaw turned its body and stared at her with an evil grin. The giant metallic fish was going to make a meal out of her just as it did Blake. It started to lunge at the inkling girl who was frozen in fear when soon the octoweapon stopped and stood back up with a confused expression on its face.

The octomaw started jerking around and making noise. It's expression turned from confused to utter disbelief. Blake was inside of it, blasting at its mechanical innards and filling its stomach with his ink. The octomaw sputtered and sparked and soon exploded into yellow ink. pieces of metal flew about and the little zapfish was flopping around in the giant puddle of yellow ink. Izzy rushed over to grab it before it swam away. She frantically looked around for Blake. "Blake!" she shouted.

She turned around with the zapfish around her arm hoping for any sign of life but to no avail. Izzy assumed the worst and sat down on her knees starting to cry as the zapfish rested on the floor. When soon she heard some moaning. "Huh...Blake, Is that you?" she said. She spotted a moving hump in the puddle of ink and saw that Blake was still alive. "Blake!" she shouted. She rushed over wiping the ink off his face. He coughed some ink out and looked at Izzy. "Izzy? I... thought I was done for," said Blake in exhaustion.

"Blake I thought you were gone too when I saw the Octomaw explode," exclaimed Izzy glad to see Blake alive. He looked over and saw the little zapfish sleeping. He gives a deep breath and stands up still covered in ink. "Well, at least we got the zapfish, Agent 2 is going to be happy," said Blake walking over and grabbing the little yellow fish.

"That was quite a performance you two, taking on that Octomaw like that! I was worried there for a while, especially for you Blake!" shouted Sheldon on the radio.

"Outstanding agents! I'm glad to see you required the zapfish! I have to admit I'm impressed by you Agent 0, sticking your neck out and protecting Agent 4 like that! You've shown what it takes to be a squidbeak! Keep up the good work you two!" congratulated Marie.

Afterward, the floor under them revealed a large hatch leading down to the underground domes once the ink cleared. "Ok, you two, before you go any further just be sure to check your gear and weapons. It's getting dark as well, you two may want to get some rest. You deserve it, especially you Blake," said Marie.

"Yeah, I'm pretty beat after facing that giant guppy, some sleep sounds good right about now," said Blake as he headed over toward another area away from the hatch. Izzy yawned and stretched before following Blake. The two of them found a place to lay down to gain their energy back up before going down into the dome. Blake sat up against a wall looking at Izzy. "Well it's been a day, I'm proud to call you my partner, you've shown a lot of skill and bravery Izzy, Cassie would be proud of you," said Blake.

Izzy blushed and looked back at Blake. "Thanks, Blake, I'm glad you're my partner too. I wouldn't have made it this far without you, I'm just a scared little squid and I'm glad you've saved me back there," said Izzy.

"Scared? Izzy, your one of the bravest people I've known. You helped face all those octotroopers and octostriker. You helped defeat the Octomaw and got the zapfish back. If anything I couldn't have done it without you. As far as saving you goes, that's what squidbeak agents do. We look out for each other," said Blake shooting Izzy a smile.

"I wish Flash thought as you do, but he...seems focused on winning the game. I wish you could play turf war matches and I could be on your team Blake. I think we'd be unstoppable," said Izzy.

"Well, I'm not so sure of that, Callie and Marie were explaining to me about turf war matches. I'm not so sure it's my thing even if it's just a game. I just... wouldn't feel like playing a game that dedicated itself to the inkling's victory of the great turf war. I'm kinda conflicted about it, I wish the war never started in the first place. So many lives and friendships lost," said Blake as he started to get depressed on his past.

"It's sad to hear what happened to you and the inklings that fought in the war. I just wish you wouldn't dwell on it. You need to look to the future Blake. Things are different now even though the octo rebels don't want peace. I just hope Inkopolis would accept you once you quit hiding from everyone," said Izzy.

"Izzy, Inkopolis would go into a full panic if they saw a human alive and not all inklings may accept me. I mean look what happened with Camper and his gang. I was nothing but an insignificant fossil in their eyes. Camper could care less if I was dead or not," said Blake. "I'm just not sure if I'm ready or not. I'm still trying to figure out where I came from and where my family is... if they're still alive," said Blake dropping his face.

"Blake, don't think like that, I'm sure their around somewhere and you have me, Cass and the squid sisters to look after you while you do find them," said Izzy trying to cheer Blake up.

"Thanks, Izzy, you remind me so much of Callie, I'll be glad when we find her," said Blake.

"Well I'm tired, goodnight Blake and remember what I said," said Izzy as she turned over on the ground.

"Goodnight Izzy, I'm proud to call you a partner and a friend," said Blake as he slowly shut his eyes.

As the two of them fell asleep; above on a rocky ledge. Two figures can be seen looking down on the two of them. "So, that inkling and fossil defeated the octomaw, huh," said one figure.

"We better report this back to the major immediately," said the second figure.

"Roger that, let's go," said the first figure as the two of them octo formed and swam away out of sight as it was getting dark.


	52. Arc 3 Chapter 7

**Arc 3 Chapter 7**

It is night in Inkopolis and the square was still filled with young turf war players. Back in the studio, Marina had been interrogated by Pearl, demanding why she had been sneaking around and acting like she was hiding something. Pearl was staring down Marina who was cornered in her DJ booth. "Rina! What's going on? You've been acting strange lately," said Pearl with her arms crossed glaring at Marina.

"Pearly, I don't know what you're talking about, why are you treaty me this way?" exclaimed a distressed Marina.

"It's been bothering me all day, ever since we went with that yellow-headed squid to that buster's hideout to save that other chick. You've acted odd and have been sneaking around or messin' with that laptop of yours. I don't like it Rina, friends don't keep secrets from each other," said Pearl getting closer putting her arms up in the air with her expression getting more flared.

"Pearl, please, I can't discuss it right now," said Marina huddling up against her station.

"Can't discuss what, Marina tell me!" shouted Pearl getting angrier.

Marina saw that she couldn't get through to her friend and decided that she had no other option. She gave a deep sigh and looked hard at the short inkling who's anger was slowly resolving wanting an explanation. "Pearl... I have been keeping things from you but I didn't want you or Inkopolis to panic with the peace treaty in place. The octarians have been up to something and I've been in contact with an old friend, her name's Indigo. I've been talking with her about things that have been happening lately especially with the octo rebels," said Marina.

"Octo rebels? Friend? Marina what are you not telling me?" said Pearl still confused.

"They're the octarians that objected to the peace treaty, they've been wanting to free Octavio and take the great zapfish causing Inkopolis to become vulnerable to their attack. Indigo was a friend that I worked along side with back when we were in the octarian army. We both built octoweapons for Octavio but after hearing Calamari Inkantion back Octavio's base in the valley. Me and her escaped along with others. We were moved by the squid sister's singing and wanted to start a new life on the surface. I wasn't completely honest with you when we first met," said Marina.

"Why?" asked Pearl.

"Because I didn't want you to hate me. I wanted to start over and become friends. I didn't want to get taken in or ran back underground because I was an octarian," said Marina with her head down wanting to cry.

"Marina, I would've never done that to you, Yo!" said Pearl. She walked over to face Marina who picker her head back up. "I don't care if you worked for that poser Octavio, his beats are weak yo! You're a better DJ than he could ever be, we're friends homey. Don't be all whack about it," said Pearl in her hip hop talk.

"You really mean that Pearl?" asked Marina as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"True that!" said Pearl crossing her arms giving a hip hop pose.

"(sniffle) aw, Pearly, where would I be without you," said Marina giving Pearl a hug.

"Alright yo! Don't be all sentimental and junk but yeah, we'd still be friends," said Pearl hugging Marina.

As the two of them were embracing each other the lights starting flicking then they went off. "What the! What's going on!" shouted Pearl.

"I don't know, let's head outside!" said Marina as the two of them let go of each other and ran out to the square.

When they rushed outside they looked at the tower where the great zapfish was perched. A large Octozeppelin was being loaded with the great zapfish by a swarm of octocopters. The great zapfish was bellowing and sparking. Inside the large octozeppelin was the major of the octo rebels. "Let's see how the inklings handle without their precious zapfish. Let's see how they like living in the dark without power. Soon Inkopolis we'll be ripe for the taking and the inklings our personal slaves!" sneered the major as she saw the zapfish finally get loaded and octozeppelin fly away.

"Oh No! The great Zapfish! What do we do!" shouted Marina.

"Yo! That's our zapfish! Give it back you octo punks!" shouted Pearl.

Inside Ammo Knights Sheldon scurried outside wondering what happened to the power. "Hey! What's going on!?" exclaimed the little crab. He looked and saw the zapfish get taken by the octarians. "Oh no, this is terrible! Without the great zapfish the city will be powerless! I've got to get a hold of Marie right away! I just have to cut on the generator," said Sheldon as he darted back in.

The city soon when black and the octozeppelin disappeared into the night, heading back to the rebel's base. The inklings were left confused and afraid of what had just happened. They all looked as they came out of their homes andbusinesses. They all turned to the Deca Tower and panicked once they saw the great zapfish was gone.

"The great zapfish is gone! Somebody do something!" shouted a female inkling.

"I can't get on the squidnet!" shouted a male.

"Where's the Inkopolis Defense Force!" shouted another.

The inklings scattered and ran back toward their homes, feeling the world had ended around them with the giant fish powering their city. Pearl and Marina headed back inside before they got trampled by a panicking inkling and shut the door and window. "Without the great zapfish, Inkopolis is doomed!" exclaimed Marina. "Pearl what do we..." started Marina as she turned around but Pearl was missing. "Pearl?!" shouted Marina.

Just then she heard Pearl curled up, mumbling behind the large monitor. "No...no...I can't check up on my social life on the internet or give the inkopolis news with the inklings adoring me and...myPrecious Mayonnaise! It's the end of Inkopolis as we know it!" shouted Pearl in distress. Marina walked over and picked her up before smacking her in the face.

"Pearly! Get it together! Inkopolis is in trouble and no's not the time to think about your social life!" exclaimed Marina sternly.

"You didn't have to clap me so hard!" shouted Pearl angrily as she rubbed her cheek. "W...What are we supposed to do about it!" shouted Pearl as she raised her arms.

"I'm...not sure," answered Marina. She turned away and headed towards the back of the studio.

"Marina! Where are you going!?" shouted Pearl as she reached out toward her octoling partner. Marina went into the backroom and shut the door as Pearl plopped in her bean bag chair unsure what to do. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. "Friends... I hope we can still be..." she mumbled to herself.

* * *

10 minutes earlier Cassie had left the tram station and headed toward the drain in the corner of the plaza. There she saw Cuttlefish in his new outfit waiting for her. She walked over and greeted him. "So what's the down-low?" asked Cuttlefish talking hip again.

"Cuttlefish I wish you would quit talking like that," said Cassie.

"Not feelin' my vibe homefry," responded Cuttlefish. "Sorry, Lass I guess these digs are affecting my speech," said Cuttlefish looking at Cassie.

"Well where is this cape anyway?" asked Cassie.

"It's down south near the coastline of Inkopolis Bay," answered Cuttlefish.

"I wonder why the deepsea metro would have a station away from the city?" asked Cassie.

"I'm not sure, but we'll soon find out," said Cuttlefish.

The two of them head out of the plaza and en route to the cape of Inkopolis. Cassie was thinking about Izzy and worried about her fighting the octarians like before, but shook off her concerns as she had to focus on the mission she and Cuttlefish were on.

As Time went by the two of them were not far from the square when they heard a noise emanating from above and soon they saw the power go out in the city. "What's happening?" asked Cassie.

"Look!" shouted Cuttlefish as he pointed his cane toward the sky. The two were stunned at the sight they had seen. It was a large octozeppelin and inside with the hatch still open on it. They saw the great zapfish caught by the octo rebels.

"(gasp) The great zapfish! The octarians stole it again! We got to stop them before they get away!" shouted Cassie as she started to take off only to be grabbed by Cuttlefish.

"Agent! There's nothing we can do right now! We have to focused on the deepsea metro! Get a hold of my grandsquid and inform her on the situation. I'm sure it's nothing your friend and Bucko himself can take of!" exclaimed Cuttlefish.

"But Captain! (sigh) fine, I'll call Marie," said Cassie who pulled out her squidphone.

Meantime back at Mt. Nantai Marie had awoken unable to sleep which was unlike her since she always slept in. She had thoughts about her cousin Callie. She wanted to see her cousin again as a tear ran down her face as she stared into the sky outside her shack. "Oh, Callie how I would love to see you again, you've been like a true sister to me, you've always been there for me and now you're gone," said Marie resisting to cry as she clenched her fist to her face.

She turned away and laid back down staring at the ceiling. Her mind wouldn't let her sleep and her thoughts turned away from Callie and that to Blake thinking about his heroism since they met at her grandfather's place. "Blake, I hope you can get Callie back... but something has been eating away at my heart, I've been keeping it bottled up for some time and I hope you and Callie will understand," she said to herself. She gave a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment and looked back at the ceiling. "I think I've fallen for you, Blake," said Marie. She covered her face with her palms trying to ease her conflict with these emotions being her cousin was madly in love with him first and Marie didn't want to intervene, but her compassion for him slowly took over.

She had fantasies about being with him and starting a family. She accepted these feelings until she jarred herself away from them. "Marie! What are you thinking! I can't! He's a human and Callie is in love with him! Come to your senses!" she exclaimed to herself as she got up.

She fixed herself some tea to calm down but soon the radio came on followed by a panicking Sheldon.

"Marie, Marie, Are you there? This is Sheldon! Come in!" he shouted over the radio.

"That's agent 2! And yes, what is it!" shouted Marie in irritation.

"It's the great zapfish! The octo rebels have taken it!" shouted Sheldon.

"(spitting) WHAT!" shouted Marie after spitting her tea out.

"Yes! They've swiped Inkopolis's power supply, you need to inform agents 0 and 4 about this right away!" shouted Sheldon.

"Thanks for the info Sheldon, my cousin now the great zapfish, Octavio won't stop until he's taken everything from us," said Marie with anger building.

Soon Marie's squidphone rang and she saw that it was Cassie. "More good news," said Marie sarcastically as she picked up the phone.

"Yes, Agent 3?" asked Marie with frustration.

"Marie it's the great zapfish! The octarians have..." started Cassie. "I know! Have taken it, sheldon just informed me," she said still irritated about the situation. "You and gramps just continue your mission, I'll inform agents 0 and 4 about it," she continued.

"How's Izzy doing?" asked Cassie.

"She and Blake are fine, they've already obtained a zapfish and about to enter the underground domes. Don't worry agent. She's been doing well with Blake. I gotta say she has impressed me but she'll have to improve as they get deeper in the canyon. I trust Blake will make sure nothing happens to her," said Marie.

"Thanks, Marie, me and Cuttlefish will continue," said Cassie.

"Ok, let me inform Blake and Izzy about the great zapfish," said Marie before hanging up. Marie gave a deep sigh and laid her phone down. "This is going to be a long day, more weight on my tentacles. I need another vacation once we stop the rebels and Octavio. Don't know how gramps can deal with all this," said Marie as she took another sip of tea.

* * *

Down below in Octorock Quarry, Blake and Izzy were still asleep. It was very early in the morning and still dark. Izzy was sleeping on the ground with her ink tank and hero shot placed aside while Blake was sitting up against a wall talking in his sleep. He shook around as if he was trying to get comfortable as his facial expressions were troubling. It seemed as if he was having a nightmare.

He saw through the eyes of a figure lying down in a lit room. The figure was blinking and breathing difficultly. They struggled to get up but had no luck as the figure was too weak in the state they were in. Footsteps could be heard approaching on the other side of the door to the room. The door handle turned and three humans appeared and walked inside the room. The first was what appeared to be a guard wearing tactical gear carrying an SMG. The second a man in a lab coat and the last was a man in black suit glaring down at the weak figure lying on the floor.

"The subject appears to be fatigued. I didn't expect these results. Not to mention his appearance (sigh) more tests will have to be done," said the man in the lab coat.

"More tests! Professor Jones! Time is of the essence and right now it will only be a couple of hours until the ship goes into cryostasis. You and your team have better come up with a solution. This is unacceptable, this cannot get out!" exclaimed the man in the black suit.

"Director Irons! You can't just expect me to come up with a new serum. The best I can do is possible modify the current serum and as for the subject, I'll try and come up with some kind of vaccine hopefully," said the professor.

"I could care less about Dr. Carter and his family! Right now, we have limited time on coming up with a new serum to allow the populace to adapt to the new world we may have to inhabit. We don't know when the sea levels will drop again and what's left of our humanity is resting on our shoulders. If you can't come up with a solution...then I'll find someone who will," said the director sternly.

"Yes, Irons, we'll come up with something right away but what about Dr. Carter and the others?" asked the professor.

"We'll still hold him here...for now, I'm heading back to the bridge. See to it that a new serum is created at once. I expect results professor," said director Irons as he walked out with his guard.

The professor gave a deep sigh and turned back to Dr. Carter who had remained silent during their conversation. The professor then kneeled down to the doctor and looked at him. "I'm sorry that it's come to this James but I have a job to do. See it this way, that you've tested out the serum, a nessessary sacrifice for mankind. Now hold still while I draw a blood sample," said the professor as he pulled out a syringe.

The figure attempted to talk and after a moment, "I...'m s...sorry, too..." said Dr. Carter.

The professor looked at Dr. Carter with confusion and within an instant he grabbed the professor's head and slammed it against the wall beside him, breaking his nose and dropping the syringe. Dazed and unresponsive, James took the opportunity to use all the energy he suddenly gained to get up and make his way out the door. He looked around and so no one around.

He snuck down the hallway and looked through the rooms until he came across his wife who was is in the same state he was in. "Honey, get up!" he shouted as he woke her. She mumbled and looked at her husband with horror. "James? James! Oh my god, I'm so glad you came back...what...happened to you?" she exclaimed seeing her husband's strange appearance.

"There's no time to explain, we gotta get Amy and Brandon and get outta here before Irons returns," said James as he grabbed his wife and dragged her out the door.

The two of them soon found Amy and Brandon and got them out. Like his wife they were stunned by each other and wanted an explanation but James passed up the explanation and urged them to follow him out and prepare for an escape. The four of them still weak managed to make it to the rescue shuttle bay without getting caught but saw multiple guards around the area.

Back on the bridge as Irons was making the final preparations for when the ship went into cryostatsis. He received a call from one of the professor's research members. "Director Irons," they said in a distressed tone.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked.

"It's the professor, he's been injured and James has escaped!" exclaimed the researcher.

"What! How?!" shouted Director Irons. He then turned to some of his guards on the bridge. "James Carter has gone missing and possibly planning an escape with the rest of his family. Find them and ensure they don't leave this ship! Use what measures deemed necessary!" ordered Irons. The guards nodded and headed out of the bridge to find James and his family. "I'll be there shortly how's the status on Professor Jones? asked Irons.

"Profesor Jones hold a medical team is...Professor Jones!...Irons...I hat to inform but...the professor didn't make it. He mumbled something before he died," said the researcher over the intercom. Irons went quiet as anger grew in him as he clenched his fist.

"Damn it! You'll pay for this Carter! Mark my words! You and your family!" shouted Irons as the whole bridge looked at him. "Continue the preparations for cryostasis while I deal with some unfinished business!" commanded Irons as he left out of the bridge.

A few minutes later, back in the Shuttle bay, James and the rest of them were sneaking past the guards in an attempt to get on a rescue shuttle. The intercom came and Irons shouted over it. "This is Director Irons, James Carter and the other subjects have escaped and need to be located immediately. They can not be allowed to leave this ship! Use whatever force deemed necessary! Irons out!"

The guards around the bay scramble around to find James and the rest of them. They hunkered down until the guards got to a distance. "Alright! Let's go before they find us! Hurry and make a break for the nearest shuttle!" shouted James as they rushed to a nearby rescue shuttle before they were caught. James helped his wife and daughter up followed by Brandon jumping in. "Mr. Carter, what's going on? What happened to us?! Why are they after...?!" exclaimed a panicking Brandon.

"There's no time to answer questions, Brandon! Now get inside!" shouted James as he jumped aboard.

As James headed to the cockpit he felt himself getting weaker and weaker as the rest of them. The shuttle powered up and James steered it around toward the exit hatch.

The guard soon turned their attention toward the shuttle James and his family was in. "Stop that craft!" shouted one of the guards. The group ran toward the shuttle and attempted to hop on it and open it while some banged on the side of it as they tried to keep up with the pace of the craft but had no luck. "Sir! What do we do?!" asked a guard.

Irons and more guards showed up as they stared at the moving shuttle. "James! I won't let you get away! Stop them at all costs! Don't let them leave this ship!" ordered Irons. The guards had no choice but to shot at the craft in attempt to halt their escape. The bullets did little to no effect on the shuttle as the family continued to move toward the exit. One of the guards grabbed an RPG out of the ship's armory and aimed it toward the shuttle. "No! Don't fire that weapon in here you idiot!" shouted Irons but it was too late as Irons rushed toward the guard.

The rocket propelled and struck another shuttle near the path of James and his family. Causing it to exploded, rocking the shuttle James was on as well as causing some damage to the engine. The family held on from the impact and James held a firm grip on the controls. "Hold on! We're getting out of here!" shouted James as the family members rushed to the back and held on to their seats.

The explosion caused a massive fire and it soon spread across the bay. "Seal off the bay and extinguish the fires before the ship takes anymore damage!" ordered Irons. The smoke was filling the bay up and soon they couldn't see the shuttle anymore. They were coughing and Irons was grabbed by his team of guards as they pulled back. (cough) Carter...(cough) this isn't over, we will find you! (cough) mark my words. I hope you and the rest of your family don't survive the trip," said Irons as they left out of the bay.

The Shuttle was almost out of the hatch and soon launched outward. "JAMES! THIS ISN"T OVER!" screamed Irons as his voice echoed threw the burning bay. The fires continued to consume the bay and Irons was grabbed by his guards getting him to safety. They rushed down the corridor but not before catching their breaths. "I...(cough) need an assessment. We need to head back to the bridge right away. Get a team down here to contain the fires," said Irons.

"Director! This is researcher Clementine. The cryostsis is initiating prematurely! We can't stop it! The system is offline and we can't get in!" they shouted over the intercom.

"NO! Get your team and get back into the system! The serum isn't ready yet! Stop it at all costs!" ordered Irons.

"Irons! This is the bridge! We've lost control and are heading out of orbit! The ship is slowly descending! Get up here right away!" shouted one of the crew members over the intercom.

Irons rushed toward the bridge as fast as he could with the guards tailing him. When Irons finally got the bridge, the crew was scrambling to get control of the ship. "Director! We can't stop the ship from descending back down and Tartar is unresponsive. The cryostasis is about to be initiated! What do we do!?" shouted the frantic crew member.

Irons just stared at the crew mwmbwer lost in thought as he saw that everything was going down the tube. He then snapped out of it and looked at the crew member. "We have no choice...get everyone else to their pods and let's just hope that the ship survives the crash on the water. I hope those researchers have done something with the serum," said Irons. Meanwhile Tartar though not responding to the crew had already done some modifications to the serum with DNA-splicing to help the humans adapt to the new world they may be exposed to down on earth. The researchers rushed out of the lab and headed to their pods.

"What!? No! We have to stop Tartar and prevent this from happening! The DNA splicing is unpredictable! The serum is incomplete and I have no way of knowing what it will do to everyone!" shouted Clementine as he saw what was happening on the computer terminal.

"DNA splicing!?" exclaimed a near by researcher seeing what Tartar was doing on the terminal.

"Damn it! I can't stop the process! There's nothing we can do! C'mon let's head for the pods. I hope Tartar knows what it is doing!" shouted Clementine as he grabbed the other researcher and headed to the cryopods.

Meanwhile, The Shuttle was descending down toward the earth. James had lost control of the spacecraft and feared they would crash below not surviving. "Dad! What are we going to do!" yelled Amy.

"Stay Calm and we'll get through this!" shouted James her father.

"We're not goin' to make it are we!?" shouted Brandon.

"Just have faith, Brandon!" shouted James.

"James! Those pods are back here!" shouted his wife.

"What?" responded a baffled James as he got out of the cockpit and headed to the back. What he saw stunned him. There were four extra cryo pods in the cargo area of the shuttle. "What are these doing here?" asked James still unsure why cryostasis pods were loaded on the shuttle.

"Dad! Our names are on them!" shouted Amy.

"Huh?" said James. "No time for questions, just get in them! commanded James. All four of them hopped in the pods hoping they would protect them from the crash. The pods activated and froze the humans inside them unintentionally. The shuttle was on fire and heading towards a large landmass that wasn't the little island from before. Soon the shuttle crashed on the ground below ramming into trees.

The four members managed to survive but were frozen in the pods that kept them unscathed from the wreckage. The pod's intercom came on inside. "Initiating cryostasis sequence. Time of release 1000 years,"

The pods laid undisturbed for 1000 years inside the wrecked rescue shuttle. There would be no telling what kind of world they would walk into or if they would be cured of the serum that altered them. The vision soon fades to black and goes quiet.

* * *

In a small cell at Octo Canyon in the octo rebel's base, Blake wasn't the only one having a dream. Sergeant Maxie had fallen asleep the night prior to debating whether or not to get a hold of Blake but she didn't want the rebels to intercept the distress call and put Blake in danger. She was lying on the bed still shackled to it dreaming in her sleep. In the dream, she was lying on the ground which was covered in grass. She was dreaming of the beautiful valley she dreamed before with the sun beading down on her. The sensation was warming and comforting. The wind was blowing and the scenery was calm and placid as a figure was lying beside her.

She turned her head toward the figure who was neither an inkling or an octoling like her but a human. It was Blake with his arms crossed behind his head staring at the clouds above them. "Blake?" she asked looking at him.

"What is it Maxie?" he asked back.

"How did I get here? What is this beautiful place?" she asked staring back at the sky.

Blake turned and looked at her. "You don't remember? It's the promised land. You've always wanted to come here," he explained.

"Promised Land?" she said with a confused look.

"You told me it's where all the octarians wanted to go after they left the underground domes," said Blake. "Are you feeling ok, Maxie?" he asked her.

"I guess my mind went blank for a minute, I do remember the octarians talking about it, but it's just a fable from being underground for so long," explained Maxie.

"Well, it's real and I wanted to bring you here," said Blake.

"I wish my parents were here to see it. To think it seemed like yesterday since...," she said shutting her eyes to hold in the tears. She looked over to the human beside her. "I don't know how I can thank you Blake," she said giving him a compassionate smile then turning back to look at the sky again.

"It's ok, Maxie, I just wanna see you happy, it must be miserable being underground to not witness the sunlight or feel the wind run across your face," said Blake rolling back over to look at the sky again.

"Hey Blake," she said looking back at him.

"Yeah," he answered.

She turned over and locked eyes with the human. Her emotions were running rampant as she contain her affections for Blake. "I...love you," she said hesitantly as she blushed. She rolled over to get on top of him. He was unsure how to react to the octoling's gesture but before he could do anything she leaned over and kissed him on the lips as she grabbed his face. The dream had blurred to bright white light and she soon woke up in her cell.

Her eyes focused and adjusted to the ceiling above her. The octoling sergeant slowly sat up and rubbed her face with her hands. "(deep breath) Another dream, what's happening to me, I'm a soldier and he's... a human, I shouldn't be feeling these emotions. I...," said the octoling as she started to cry and covered her face.

"I'm ashamed of myself, what kind of octoling soldier am I," she shouted as she wept.

"Get it together Maxie, focus on the mission and getting out of here," said the octoling as she snapped out of her pity and hopped on the floor to do push-ups getting her mind off the dream.

After a moment of push-ups a voice called out to her in the room. "Maxie...Maxie..." the voice said. The octoling finally stopped and looked in front of her. Her eyes widened and she froze where she was at. In front of her was an octoling with green eyes like hers but she had a white glow that surrounded her body having the appearance of a ghostly figure. Another thing that was strange was she was wearing a white veiled dress and was barefooted. The ghostly octoling stared at her with a slight smile.

"Who are you?" asked the stunned octoling.

"I'm you, Maxie, at least your softer side anyway, the manifestation of your inner feelings. The emotions you have repressed since your parents died," said the entity.

"What? but how can you be..." started the sergeant staring at the figure as she was cut off.

"Maxie, you shouldn't bottle up your emotions like this. I know your parents died and you're looking to Blake for comfort, to fill the empty void that makes you feel incomplete and inefficient. You will have to eventually deal with these feelings. You love Blake and can't deny it, but I'm sure you also know the inkling girl loves him too as well as another," said the entity.

"Another?" asked the octoling sergeant as she stood up.

"Yes, like you, has bottled up her feelings for him too," said the entity.

"Who is it?" she asked with curiosity.

"right now it's not important, you should be concerned with yourself, remember what I told you Maxie," said the entity.

"I won't believe that you're the manifestation of my inner conscience. Blake's a human...things wouldn't work out, besides that inkling girl loves him. I need to focus on defeating the major not concerned about my emotions," said the sergeant placing her goggles back on her face.

The entity shook her head and closed her eyes. "Maxie, it's because of this that concerns me. How will you deal with your outer conflict if you can't deal with your inner conflict? You've managed to get lucky so far but your luck will soon run out and that may prove fatal. Think about that Maxie," said the entity sternly as she a disappointing look on her face.

"Just leave me be... I can handle it. I don't need you telling me what I should do, I'm an octoling soldier and I will defeat that major and stop the octo rebels," said the sergeant as she turned away.

"Very well, Maxie," said the entity as she slowly vanished out of the room. The sergeant turned back and saw the figure was gone. She downed her head and thoughts stewed through her mind about what the manifestation said. She gave a deep sigh and slowly went back to doing her push-ups.

"My inner conflict...I'm fine," she said to herself. She soon stopped and kneeled on the floor silent in thought. She bared her teeth and threw her goggles across the room before punching the floor. She laid her head against the floor and gave a deep breath. "Blake... I do...heave feelings for that human but...(growl) aaahhh..." she said in grief as she grabbed her head. She got up and kicked the wall beside the bed as she was still shackled. Tears ran down her face and she huddled up against the wall. For the remainder of the time she cried against her knees as she was curled up against the wall unable to fight her emotions.

* * *

That morning back in the quarry, Blake had jarred awake after seeing his family frozen in the cryopods aboard the rescue shuttle they were in. "(gasp) My family! They're alive!" shouted Blake which woke Izzy up.

"Huh, What is it Blake?!" exclaimed Izzy, startled by Blake's outburst.

"I...saw my family frozen in those pods like I was," explained Blake as Izzy looked at him.

"your family? What are you talking about?" asked a stunned Izzy.

"I had a dream about them and I saw them escape this spacecraft and land back down, they froze themselves in these pods, they might still be alive!" said Blake as Izzy was clueless of what Blake was talking about.

"I never told you did I," said Blake as Izzy shook her head. For minutes Blake explained to Izzy about his family and the other events that transpired in his visions. Izzy was intrigued and troubled at the same time. She remembered being told about his discovery years ago and him being a squidbeak agent from back in the great turf war, but never knew of his past before he was found by Cuttlefish in that pod.

"Wow, I never knew Blake, I hope you're right and they are alive," said Izzy.

"I hope so too, I was beginning to think I might never see them again and now they're out there somewhere waiting to be woken up," said Blake. "But for now let's focus on getting Callie back and beating those octo-jerks," said Blake.

Izzy gave Blake a smirk like Marie's. "Yeah, let's get your girlfriend back," she said as Blake smiled and shook his head.

"Ok, Marie, and she's not my girlfriend, she's just a friend," said Blake as he got up. "It's still pretty early and the sun hasn't come up yet," said Blake as he looked up at the start sky above the quarry.

The radio startled the two of them as it came on. "Agent 4? Agent 0? Are you two awake!?" shouted Marie on the radio.

"Yeah, we just got up, why? What's wrong?" asked Blake with concern.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you two! Sheldon informed me about the octo rebels taking the great zapfish as well as Cassie on the phone. Inkopolis is powerless and I'm afraid that will lead them vulnerable to any attacks the rebels may plan. You two need to hurry and make your way into the domes ASAP," said Marie sternly.

"Oh no! All the inklings!" exclaimed Izzy.

"OK agent 2, we'll make our way inside as quickly as possible, don't worry, we'll stop them," said Blake.

"When you two make into the dome. There's something I want you two to do," said Marie.

"What is it Agent 2?" asked Blake.

"I want you two to separate so you can cover more ground. I want Agent 4 to focus on tracking the great Zapfish and Agent 0, you can focus on Callie," said Marie.

"Separate! But I don't..." said Izzy startled as she was cut off by Blake.

"Izzy, it's ok, I know you can do it without me, I have faith in you," said Blake giving her a reassuring expression.

Izzy nodded while Blake turned back to the large hatch that would take them to the underground domes in the canyon.

"Well, here goes nothing," said Blake as he pushed the button to open the hatch.

"Be careful you two, I know you won't have each other to watch your backs but this is the only way we can catch two birds with one stone," said Marie.

"We understand, We'll do our best," said Blake.

"Good luck, Agent 2 out," said Marie as she got off the radio.

"Let's do this," said Izzy as she clutched her hero shot. The hatch was open and the two dove in heading into the belly of the beast.

The trip down was dark and all the two could hear were the echoes of their feet hitting the floor below them. They two soon spotted a doorway in the small chamber they were in and opened. It would be then when the two agents would split and go their separate ways in the underground domes. The two would no longer rely one each other and would have to hone in the skills they had learned from their training and beating the octarians in the quarry. Let's home the two agents are up to the tasks ahead of them.


	53. Arc 3 Chapter 8

**Arc 3 Chapter 8**

It was early in the morning in Octo Canyon, Melvin had been captured by the octo rebels and was separated from his teammates. Melvin was wounded and exhausted from the battle back at the Octoweapons factory between the two of them facing Obi and the rebels. He recanted what had happened and pounded the wall as he was sitting against it. "Selena, don't you worry, I'll get us out of this mess," he jeered holding his arm from the pain.

The evening prior he and Selena managed to get inside the octoweapons plant to find their commander, Sergeant Maxie but during their search, they stumbled across their other teammate Obi who was shocked to find out that he turned against them and defected to the rebels. They were pinned down by the rebel forces that stormed the room they were trapped in and surrendered once they came to the conclusion they would not escape. Obi punched Melvin knocking him out while Selna was cuffed and led away. Melvin was carried out with Selena as another figure appeared in the room to face Obi.

"Nice work squirt, you've proven yourself today by catching these traitors," said the towering octarian welding a giant ink roller.

"Thank you, Octo-Samurai," said Obi as he bowed to him.

"Move out and make your way back to the rebel base," commanded the Octo-Samurai as he and some octarians left the room with Melvin and Selena.

As Selena looked at an unconscious Melvin being carried away. She felt deep remorse about what had happened. "Poor Melvin," she said sadly continuing behind the group of rebels.

Back in the cell, Melvin gritted his teeth and buried his face in his knees, full of regret. Selena was in another cell lying on the bed until an octoling opened the door and commanded her to get up.

"you! come here!" the octoling barked.

Selena slowly got up in fear wondering what was about to happen to her. She was dragged away by two other octolings and taken to another room but as she was led she spotted an inkling with long black and magenta tentacles lying on a bed in another room through a large window in the wall. She noticed she was wearing some kind revealing outfit and had a pair of shades over her eyes. She appeared unresponsive and turned back to the front of her.

She was led through a pair of double doors into another large chamber. Inside were more octarians and octolings. She was dragged to a chair and strapped down. "What's going on! What are going to do to me!" she shouted in horror. "Shut up and pay attention!" shouted an octoling elite (not the major).

Selena gulped and stared at the elite. "Are the goggles ready?" the elite asked one of the octolings. "Yes ma'am. The red queen had supplied us with the new goggles that have been synchronized to our signal. Once she wears these, she won't resist our commands," said the octoling handing the new goggles over to the elite.

"Good, then lets put them to the test. We'll try them on our new recruit then," sneered the elite as she placed the googles on Selena.

"No! Stop! Don't put them on me! Please!" shouted Selena as she struggled in her chair as she was bound down.

The goggles were placed over her eyes and a red light came on where the left eye would be. Her struggling stopped and she sat still. "Well, recruit, what do you have to say for yourself," asked the elite.

"Reporting for duty ma'am," said Selena in an emotionless tone.

"Good, you are to report for further orders, make your way to the command center ASAP soldier," ordered the elite as Selena was released.

"Yes, ma'am," saluted Selena as she left with her mind under control by the octo rebels.

* * *

Cassie and Cuttlefish headed over to the apartments in Flounder Heights. Cassie had brought up to the captain that maybe they should get a little shut eye before heading to the cape. Cuttlefish was anxious about finding the deepsea metro but gave in to Cassie's request and decided to hold off on heading for the cape. "Aye lass, be best we do get some sleep before we head to the cape," said Cuttlefish as they entered into Flounder Heights.

The streets had soon turned out and the power to the apartment complexes shut down. Cassie and Cuttlefish entered the building and took the stairs since the elevator was not working. After a long climb up they finally made it to Cassie's housing and stepped inside. Cuttlefish had never been inside Cassie's apartment as he looked around while Cassie found a flashlight to light up the room.

"It's not much captain, but this is my home," she said.

"nice crib, home fry," he said with his hip hop dialect.

Cassie just shook her head and turned to the fridge. "You want something to eat captain?" she asked him.

"Oh, no thanks, lass. I'll just sit on the couch," he said sitting down. He soon looked over and spotted a bookshelf across the room. "What kind of books you got there?" he asked.

"All kinds, captain, I like reading especially poetry," she said walking over towards him. One book caught his eye as it was not in inkling or octoling language. "What book is that?" as he pointed at it.

"I'm not entirely sure, I can't read it, all I know that it must be human. I came across it sometime ago at the bookstore," she said as she walked over and pulled it out. It was an encyclopedia with different diagrams and pictures inside," said Cassie as she handed over to Cuttlefish. He looked through and examined the pictures of different human technology and humans themselves. He couldn't read the writing of the book and decided to close it after a few minutes.

"To think, humans once inhabited the earth years ago. It doesn't seem like we're too different from them. All the vast knowledge they had, I don't think we could even come close. It's shame they died out long ago," said Cuttlefish.

"They seem intriguing and intelligent, by what I've seen from Blake. I guess that's why I shouldn't worry Izzy," said Cassie.

"Yes but what does that tell us about the human made company Kamabo?" asked Cuttlefish. "We're not sure what to expect, so we'll have to stay vigilant and on our toes at all times agent 3," he said with concern.

"I know captain...but could this mean that...the humans may not be extinct after all. I mean Blake survived in that pod, who's to say that he isn't the last human left," said Cassie.

"We don't know, lass. That's why we need to keep a clear head about this," said Cuttlefish.

Cassie then turned her attention to the window seeing the Deca Tower at a near distance. "The great zapfish is gone again. I failed stopping Octavio from taking Callie and now I failed protect all the inklings. I made a vow to protect Inkopolis and everyone in it and now Callie and the great zapfish are gone. I'm a disgrace as a squidbeak agent," said Cassie as he buried her face in her hands.

"Lass, don't beat yourself up over this, your friend and Bucko will get my grandsquid back and the great zapfish," said Cuttlefish consoling Cassie.

"I wish Izzy wouldn't have been pressured to join the squidbeak squad. She couldn't even handle a turf battle. What if she gets captured or worse!" exclaimed Cassie fearing the worst.

"Agent 3, you need to calm down. I trust the lad will keep her safe. She's in good hands as well as Marie is covering for me. She's shone to be a great leader," said Cuttlefish.

"I guess you're right captain, I just wish I was down there with her. What do we do now that Inkopolis has no power? How are we going to get to the deepsea metro now?" asked Cassie with concern.

"Lass, we'll think of something, don't get your tentacles in a bunch," said Cuttlefish.

Cassie got up off the couch and walked across the room remembering when she fought the octarians and stopped Octavio over 2 years ago. She remembered how difficult it was and how the squid sisters helped her get through it. "Lass, get some sleep," said Cuttlefish. She turned toward seeing him give a reassure expression. Cassie's concernment resolved and she gave a yawn followed by a stretch.

"I guess you're right captain, I'll head to bed then," said Cassie as she headed for her bedroom.

Cuttlefish looked as she closed the door. "goodnight captain," she said behind the door. Cuttlefish laid over on the couch and stared at the ceiling until his eyes closed. He finally fell asleep as his snoring could wake up the whole complex.

* * *

Blake and Izzy finally made it inside the underground domes. The two of them dropped from the hatch and down below on a circular platform. The inside was a large chamber with screens lining the walls simulating the dark sky from outside. There were multiple pathways that lead to more tea kettles leading further down different areas underground.

"Where do we go now?" asked Izzy.

"I don't know, Marie wanted us to split up. I'll take the path to the right and can take the one to the left," said Blake as he started to walk off.

"Blake, I... don't know If I can do it without you," said Izzy wanting Blake to stick around.

"Izzy, I know it's hard that you'll have to face those octarians without me, but believe me. I know you can do it. Your one of the bravest people I know and Cassie would be proud," said Blake with confidence.

"You, really think I'm brave, but you defeated that octostriker and faced that giant metal fish back in the quarry," said Izzy.

"So did you, I couldn't have done it without your help, I know you can do it, I believe in you," said Blake.

She smiled back at Blake and gave him a hug. "Now, go find the great zapfish and I'll go find Callie," said Blake.

Izzy nodded and gave a chuckle as she headed to the tea kettle. She hopped in and the kettle steamed and shot her to the next destination.

Blake turned to the kettle on the right. He gave a deep sigh uneager to jump in the kettle. "Well here comes a nauseating trip, just hope I keep myself from throwing up," said Blake with irritation as he lifted the lid and hopped in. The kettle steamed and shot him to his next location.

Izzy made it to another dome out of the kettle she hopped out of. She looked around and saw much of the scenery covered in vegetation with floating platforms above. The air had a green haze limiting some visibility in the dome. The screens around the dome changed to an early morning sky and Izzy slowly made her way ahead still looking around at the dome.

In front of her, the path ended against a wall. She inked the surface of the wall and swam up in her going through a mesh fence at the top and jumping up. There, on top of the platform was a large opening with a few crates lying around. She walked over and studied the crates. A sticker on the crate read: DO NOT BREAK!. She wondered what was inside.

"Those crates are full of power eggs if you're wondering," said Sheldon who surprised Izzy.

"Sheldon? I mean...what are power eggs?" asked Izzy.

"They act as batteries for the octarian weaponry and gear they use. If you collect them I can make upgrades for your gear and weapons, Agent 4," said Sheldon. "Just bust those crates open with your hero shot," he continued.

"Ok," said Izzy as she shot the crate. When she did the wooden box busted open revealing the orange eggs inside. "Woah, so those are power eggs," she said walking up to them as she collected them.

"Good job agent, there's another crate over there, just keep collecting eggs and I'll have some upgrades available to you," said Sheldon.

Izzy busted another crate open collecting more eggs until she hopped over to another floating platform ahead of her. So far Izzy hadn't encountered any octo rebels so far but more crates ahead. The drone had a heard time spotting Izzy in the green fog that lingered in the dome she was in, not spotting any threats as well.

Meanwhile, Blake had been transported to another dome. The dome that housed the Octoweapons factory sergeant Maxie's recon team had went to. Blake looked around and scanned the scenery. Like the dome, Izzy was in the screens simulated a morning sky. Blake spotted the factory on a large floating air mass with smoking billowing from the stacks on the factory.

Blake made his way down to the town below the factory to explore. He finally made it inside and saw multiple buildings possibly stores and apartments for the workers at one time, but the town looked abandoned. He cautiously explored the area until he reached a large square with a statue of what looked like an octotrooper worker holding a tool. He continued on to the other side of the square until he saw some octotroopers patrolling the area.

He hid behind a dumpster near the street to avoid detection. He also spotted an Octosniper scanning the street down below. Blake knew he had to find some way around them without attracting more of them. He decided to head into what looked like a building where the workers got paid almost like a bank. Inside he looked around and saw a door leading out into an alleyway.

"Maybe I can get around them through here," said Blake as he continued down the alley. He spotted another approaching octotrooper and stopped behind the corner of the building until it left. He slowly made his way forward without seeing the octotrooper and walked into an apartment complex. He made his way to the third floor, through the old ran down apartment, and reached a room. It appeared to be a den with a bathroom, there was a picture of a family of octarians still hanging on the wall.

He walked down another staircase upward and into another room; a kitchen this time with a back door and a walkway leading outside. He looked around the corner of the walkway and saw a twintacle pacing the walkway with an octosniper on the other end still scanning the street below. Blake decided to lob a splat bomb on the walkway to hit both the twintacle and octosniper. When he did the bomb landed in between the twintacle and octosniper. The twintacle was splatted instantly while the octosniper was thrown off his platform and landed on the street below, splatting on the ground below.

"well, that was pretty easy," said Blake as he continued walking. "Can't be sure It'll stay that way though," he commented. He continued through the town until he would find a way into the large Octoweapons factory but on the way there as he was walking down the fire escapes leading to the street below. He heard a noise coming from his pocket. He pulled out an octopus-shaped device. It was the communicator that the octoling sergeant gave him. He remembered taking it with him but why was it coming on.

He pushed the button on it. "Hello?" asked Blake meekly.

"Blake, is that you?" asked a voice.

"Is this the octoling that I met back at the oil rig?" asked Blake.

"Yes, its, Sergeant Maxie of the neo octarian army. I have an urgent message for you and the inklings. I've just been informed that Octavio had been rescued by the rebels and have stolen the great zapfish. He plans on massing the rebels together to attack Inkopolis," said the sergeant.

"I'm well aware of that. I'm in Octo Canyon right now with another agent. They've also taken Callie. I was sent down to rescue her and the other agent was to track down the great zapfish. We plan on stopping Octavio and any plans he has in store for Inkopolis, I just don't know my way around Octo Canyon or where to find Callie and Octavio," said Blake.

"Oh, you know already. Callie? Is she the one that tried to smash me with her roller at the rig? The one that has a crush on you?" asked Maxie holding back her feelings.

"Yeah, Octavio captured her back at Octo Valley. I volunteered to rescue her. She let me know how much she loved me and I feel obligated to get her back, well I should say more like family," said Blake.

"That's...very noble of you," said Maxie hiding her envy. She remained quiet for a moment until she spoke up again. "Blake, speaking of rescuing, I've been captured myself. I can't get out of my cell. I was on a recon mission with my team and we got compromised. We split up and I got caught inside the Octoweapons factory," said Maxie.

"Octoweapons Factory? I think that's where I am, but I haven't made it inside yet," said Blake.

"Me and my team were sent there to spy on the rebels, I think they've started the factory back up to build more octoweapons for their army using the sardinium from the quarry. You need to disrupt their operations so they can't have any octoweapons built for the attack on inkopolis. I know you can do it human...I mean Blake," said Maxie.

"I will sergeant, I'll inform Agent 2 about what's going on and I'll see if I can rescue you too," said Blake.

"Thanks, Blake, I think I'm being held in the rebel's base deeper in the canyon, just be careful," said Maxie.

"Alright, I'll do what I can," said Blake.

"Good luck, Sergeant Maxie out," she said cutting off the transmission.

Blake put the communicator up and made his way down to the street finding a way inside the factory.

* * *

10 minutes before the octoling sergeant got in contact with Blake. She was lying on her bed in deep thought about what the entity had told her. She was bothered by it and it kept eating at her. "emotions...happiness...love...(sigh) I've never felt this way before. Not since my parents..." said the octoling as she threw her goggles down on the bed.

She sat up in her bed with her face buried in her palms. "Maybe, she was right...maybe I need to confront this but I don't know what to do," she said. Soon her attention was drawn to a conversation outside the door. She could make out two octolings talking about Octavio being in command of the octo rebels and stealing the great zapfish. She also overheard them talking about the planned attack on Inkopolis. Maxie heard the conversation for minutes until she thought to herself what to do.

"Wait Octavio is free, I need to get a hold of the inklings right away but how?" she asked herself. She then thought about the communicator she gave Blake. The octoling pulled out her communicator but hesitated if it was a good idea or not. She gave a deep breath and decided to chance it.

"Blake, come in Blake!" she said on the device but no luck.

"C'mon Blake, please answer," she said again.

After a moment of no response the device came on and Blake responded.

"Hello?" asked Blake on the other end.

"Blake, is that you?" she asked back.

Once she got a hold of him she informed him of everything she'd heard from the octolings outside her cell. She also asked to be rescued once she heard he was inside the canyon domes. He agreed to find her and rescue once he had dealt with the Octoweapons Factory. She thanked him before getting off the communicator. The octolings pounded on her cell door and opened it. Maxie panicked and threw the communicator under her bed before it was discovered. The door was swung open and the two octolings from outside confronted the sergeant.

"Who are you talking to!?" demanded one of the octolings.

The sergeant turned to the octolings who were glaring at her. "No one, you must have been hearing things. I guess you've been hanging around the major too much," sneered the sergeant.

"Don't get smart with us, we know we heard you talking with someone. You better not have some kind of communication device on you. Forget about someone rescuing your ass," said the other octoling.

"As I said, you must have been hearing things, I don't know how you two can here anyone else over your talking outside," said the sergeant snidely.

"Search her," said the one octoling to the other.

She stormed over to Maxie and ordered her to "spread em' ". "Sorry, you're not my type," said the sergeant sarcastically.

"I said spread em', octopus," the octoling barked turning her around. The octoling patted down Maxie but found nothing on her. The other octoling watched but something under the bed caught her eye. The pat-down was finished as the octoling bent over and grabbed the octopus-shaped communicator under the bed. "What do we have here," said the octoling as she had the communicator in her hand.

"So, you were talking to someone, WHO!?" the octoling commanded.

Maxie just stood at attention not responding to the octoling's commanding tone. "Silent, huh, let's see how silent you'll stay once your brought to the major, " sneered the octoling.

The other octoling walked beside the sergeant and clubbed her with her octoshot knocking her to the floor. "Get her up and bring her the major," ordered the octoling to the other.

They picked her up and guided her down a hallway deeper into the base. The three of them reached the command center and approached the major standing in the middle of the large chamber. "Ma'am, there's someone here to see you," said the octoling as she shoved the sergeant.

"She had this in her possession," she continued tossing the communicator to the scar-faced major.

"hmpf...calling for help? That's not like you Maxie. Who did you come in contact with?" ordered the major.

"bite me!" shouted the sergeant.

"I'll do more than that! Unless you tell me who you got a hold of and what you told them," said the elite glaring at her as the sergeant remained silent.

The elite smirked and gave a chuckle. "It was that human wasn't it," said the elite. Maxie's facial expression changed and the elite knew that it was the human. "I've done been informed about the squidbeak agents in the canyon. I know one of them is the human and I know they're here to rescue that inkling and the great zapfish. As a matter of fact, I may have use for you after all. Bring in our new recruit," commanded the major.

Soon a familiar octoling walked in, escorted by two other ones. Her tentacles were shorter and thinner than the typical octoling's. The sergeant stared at her as she approached her. "Selena? What...What did you do to her?!" commanded the sergeant as she was being held back.

"She's joined our army and is now loyal to Octavio," said the elite with a sinister grin.

"Selena! Answer me! What did they do to you?!" shouted the sergeant.

"Take her to Tentacle Towers and use her as bait for the human. Once that human attempts to rescue her, surround the area, and subdue him. He is still vital for Operation Teal Dawn. Now get her out of here!" commanded the elite to Selena and the octolings.

"Yes, Ma'am" responded Selena and the octolings with her. They grabbed the sergeant and took her away in an attempt to bait Blake into saving her and capturing him for their diabolical purposes.


	54. Arc 3 Chapter 9

**Arc 3 Chapter 9**

Izzy was splatting Octotroopers and going through obstacles through the dome she was in. She had collected more power eggs and almost had enough for an upgrade Sheldon said he would offer. She made it further through the dome going through more obstacles and platforms. Moments ago things seemed pretty easy. Izzy was traversing through foggy dome until some octarians spotted her. They waited for the inkling agent to get closer until she reached another crate full of power eggs. It was then when one octotrooper decided to shoot at the unsuspecting inkling girl. A shot ink landed in front of the agent and she jumped back and spotted the octotroopers moving in on her position.

A small skirmish ensued and Izzy managed to take down the duo of octotroopers. Ahead she saw the platforms end but something caught her that was platform above. It looked like a fishing lure with a propeller on top of it causing it to hover.

"That's a grapplink, Agent 4, shoot it and it will grab you. It will allow you to get over large spaces or platforms you jump to," explained Sheldon.

She shot at the grapplink which pulled her up to another platform above and she jumped off to it. "Wow, that's handy," said Izzy.

"You can use those to get to places you can't reach," said Sheldon.

She continued on thrg aough the dome shootint more grapplinks she came across. She had reached the center of the dome as the air started getting hazyier. She spotted a large circular platform above her surrounded by small platforms that had some kind of drum-like objects attached to them. She was curious and made her self upward with another grapplink she shot at. She landed on another platform that was level with the large circular one that was still a distance away.

She spotted something in the center of the giant disc-shaped platform. It appeared to be a large Octarian, one she'd never seen before. "What is that thing?" she asked herself. She jumped across more platforms and onto on that had the drum-like device on it.

"Agent 4! Keep quiet! That's an Octohurler!" shouted Sheldon.

"Octo...hurler?" replied Izzy in confusion.

"It lobs rolonium at you! large paint roller-like munition, It would be best to stay out of its range if you can," said Sheldon with deep concern. "Those look like ink switches on the surrounding platforms. They look like drums but shooting them will pull you to another object to a platform nearby, maybe you can use them to get around that big octarian," said Sheldon.

Just then the Octohurler woke up and spotted Izzy. It gave a loud groan and the platform under it revealed to be a spinning ink spreader coating the floor around it with purple ink. It bent back on it's bench spitting out a roll of rolonium and shot it toward Izzy. "Oh no it saw you! Get out of the rolonium's impact area!" shouted Sheldon.

Izzy jumped out of the way barely getting hit. "You can't face that octohurler with that spreader under it. You'll have to take it on from a longer range," said Sheldon. "Just shoot those ink switches to move from platform to platform dodging its rolonium shots," said Sheldon.

The octohurler spat out more rolonium for another attack while Izzy shot an inkswitch to get her to another platform. The rolonium missed her and she turned back to the giant octarian. "Just keep moving!" shouted Sheldon. Izzy kept up moving from platform to platform evading the rolonium until the octohurler changed its tactics. It then decided to launch its rolonium to the next platform ahead of Izzy. The platform was coated with ink causing her to become immobilized in the octarian ink if she were to land in it.

Izzy saw this and decided to move back to the platform was before until the octohurler hit it as well. "Oh, no I'm trapped!" shouted Izzy. The octohurler was preparing to strike the platform Izzy was on. "Agent 4! I just thought of something! Shoot at the rolonium itself! It might fling it back at the octohurler!" said Sheldon.

"I hope you're right Sheldon," said Izzy.

The rolonium was shot out of the octarians mouth and was hurling toward Izzy. As the rolonium got closer Izzy shot at it until she coated it with her ink and deflected back to the octohurler. The octohurler was unable to move and got hit with the ink coated rolonium. It was knocked out momentarily and shook itself off. "Down but not out! One more rolonium hit will finish it off!" said Sheldon.

"Got it!" replied Izzy. She shot the inkswitch to get to the next platform and coated it with her ink. The octohurler looked back at Izzy and shook out of anger. It spits out another rolonium and flings it at her. She got to another platform and repeated the process as the octohurler kept hurling rolonium at her. Soon Izzy was getting tired and one of the roloniums landed on her platform knocking her down. "Izzy!" shouted Sheldon.

She slowly got up and was shaken up from the attack. "Izzy, are you ok!?" shouted Sheldon with distress.

"Yeah, I'm ok," said Izzy.

The Octohurler prepared to shoot another rolonium at her. Instead of moving to another platform to avoid the attack. Izzy glared at the octarian and threw her hero shot down. "Izzy! What are you doing!" said a shocked Sheldon. The rolonium shot out of the octohurler's mouth and headed for Izzy. She jumped up in the air and kicked the rolonium back at the octohurler knocking it off the stool. It burst into yellow ink and the spreaders shut off.

Izzy jumped back down and headed for the platform the octohurler was sitting on and collected the power eggs it left behind. "Izzy...that was...Amazing!" shouted Sheldon gleefully.

"Thanks," said Izzy. "Guess I'm not the scared little squid I used to be... thanks to Blake's confidence in me," said Izzy.

"Well, I'm glad you believe in yourself. Hey! You've got enough power eggs for an upgrade.

"Finally, what can I get?" asked Izzy.

"Well, you can upgrade your armor for more protection. 4 hits instead of 3 or upgrade your tank to hold more ink before running out. You can also upgrade your hero shot to make it more powerful or shoot a higher rate of fire. purchase more splat bombs or change your special. It's your choice," said Sheldon.

"Hmm..." pondered Izzy.

After a moment she decided to upgrade the armor on her hero suit.

"Good choice, a good defense can be the best offense. Now you can take 4 hits instead of 3 from an enemy before you're splatted," explained Sheldon.

"Awesome!" shouted Izzy.

"I spotted another tea kettle ahead, make your way there before anymore octarians show up," said Sheldon.

Izzy shot another grapplink on the other side of the platform boosting herself up to more platforms. She spotted the tea kettle at the end of her path and made her way there with no incidents. She hopped in the tea kettle and was shot off to the next destination.

* * *

Blake was back on the street level after talking with Sergeant Maxie on the communicator. He looked around and saw the area was clear until he heard a loud humming around the corner toward the factory. He slowly headed toward the noise with his weapon drawn and saw a squad of octotroopers being led by a twintacle. Behind them was a large suspended robot that had ink spewing below it, covering the ground. "What is that thing?" asked Blake.

"That's a flooder. It coats its path with ink wants it spots you. They're very dangerous and once you get caught under it, it's too late. I'd advise finding another route into the factory not to mention you would draw more attention," said Marie.

"There's no time to hunt for another route. I gotta get inside that factory. I can deal with those tentacles and flooder. Their ink doesn't have that much of an effect on me," said Blake.

"Agent 0, I would suggest you not do that!" said Marie with a little irritation.

"Sorry, Agent 2 but I've got octarians to deal with," said Blake.

"Agent 0, I..." started Marie as Blake cut her off.

Blake jumped out and shot at the octotroopers. He managed to splat two leaving two left and the twintacle. "Intruder! Get him!" shouted the twintacle. They converged on Blake as he jumped up and shot the wall of a building with ran across the wall of a building in the ink path he made, shooting down on the octarians. "What the!" shouted the shocked twintacle seeing Blake wall run and dodging their fire. Blake splatted the last two octotroopers and jumped down to kick the twintacle off its platform. He shot the twintacle on the ground and splattered it before it got up.

The flooder locked on Blake and started towards him. Blake peered up and saw the advancing robot. He shot at it but it proved futile. "Shit! My shots didn't do anything!" shouted Blake as he backed away from the approaching robot. It flooded ink below it covering the ground like a wall of ink heading towards him. He ran down the street but the flooder was gaining on him. Ahead he saw more octotroopers block his path and fire at him. He shot the ground with ink and fast slid to avoid the octarian's ink. He copied what he did with the wall and made an ink path to wall run and get around the octotrooper barricade.

The flooder was still pursing him as the octotroopers got out of its way. Blake jumped back down and ran down another street hoping to lose the flooder. He spotted an octocopter descend down in front of him lobbing a splat bomb towards him. He shot ink below it, making another ink path and slide under the octocopter. "Ha! is that the best you got!" sneered Blake as he stood back and turned to shot the octocopter. The octocopter splatted in the air and turned back around to see the flooder was now in front of him.

"Oh Shit again!" shouted Blake as he was almost under the flooder. He darted back in the direction he came from to see the octotroopers block his path again with a twintacle this time. "That won't work! Dumb tentacles!" shouted Blake. He jumped up and inked the side of the building. He wall ran above the octotrooper's blockade and made it back into the town square where he would have a lot more room to maneuver.

He jumped off the side of the building and landed back down. The octotroopers converged on him from the other side of the square. They shot ink at him but he jumped back and inked another path on the side of the building. He jumped and wall-ran down the wall of the building evading octarian fire. He shot back splatting one octotrooper and lobbing a splat bomb down on them splatting two more.

"Splat that human!" shouted the twintacle. As Blake was wall running his squidwatch was making noise and glowing. "What's going on with my watch?" asked Blake.

"Your special has been activated!" shouted Sheldon.

"Special?" replied a confused Blake.

"Just jump off the building and smack that watch! land around those octotroopers!" ordered Sheldon.

"Ok!" shouted Blake as he hit the squidwatch. His hair looked like a yellow flame and his body was glowing. His speed grew and he jumped up landing down around the octotroopers at great speed. Once he hit the ground he punched it causing an ink explosion around him, splatting all the surrounding octarians.

"WOAH!" shouted Blake as he stood back up.

"That's splashdown! It allows you to jump down on your enemies and splat them into a huge explosion of ink similar to an inkstrike only this time you're the missile," explained Sheldon.

"That was awesome!" said Blake in excitement.

He soon heard the flooder come out of the street and head towards him. Blake went to cover the wall with ink but his ink was depleted from the splashdown. "oh carp! I'm out of ink!" shouted Blake. "That special used up the rest of your ink! Get out of there agent 0!" shouted Marie appearing back on the radio.

Blake high tailed it, away from the flooder but it was gaining on him. Blake was getting tired and his movement was slowing down. He tripped and fell with the flooder right behind him. Blake turned back toward the flooder in horror as he didn't have time to get up. The flooder was just about on him, seeing the approaching wall of ink. "Oh No, Marie!" shouted Blake as the flooder covered him. "Blake! No!" shouted Marie.

It was too late. The flooder ran over Blake and all that was left was a large path of purple ink.

* * *

All of Inkopolis was without power. The inklings panicked as the turf wars were put to a halt and shops were closed. Pearl and Marina were in their studio unsure what to do. "This isn't good Rina, how am I supposed to get on social media to adore my fans while the cell network is down?!" shouted Pearl fretting over not having cell service.

"Pearly, you're worried more about your idol status than the entire city?!" shouted an irritated Marina.

"What! I gotta keep my fans adored and keep up with the freshest and hippest stuff!" shot back Pearl.

"(groan) What am I to do with you?!" she said as she shook her head in disbelief.

It was moments ago when Marina headed into the backroom. Unable to get on her laptop and chat with her octoling friend back in the valley, she laid her head on the table. Pearl was getting stir crazy if not having withdrawals from not being able to check on her web page since the squidweb was down. She sunk into her beanbag chair tapping her fingers. Pearl growled as she back in her chair until she yelled and jumped out of her seat. She managed to jar Marina awake and the octoling opened the door to see her friend throwing a fit about not being about to get on the squidweb to check her idol status.

Pearl and Marina were disputing until the octoling got enough. Marina walked over to her station and grabbed her laptop. She was making her way to the door when Pearl shouted at her. "Marina! Where are you going!?" she asked frantically.

"Well, there's no power here at the studio so I'm heading back to your place to see what I can do," said Marina.

"Wait! I don't wanna be alone, I'm coming too," said Pearl as she followed Marina out the door.

The two of them walked back to Pearl's with the short inkling groaning and complaining the way there since they had no means of transportation. "Pearly, you need to get out more and do some exercise like me," said Marina.

"What! And miss out on my video games and my adoring fans, please," said Pearl.

"Well, maybe if you would stop eating so much mayonnaise, you'd be in better shape, " said Marina.

"I've never been in better shape, Rina. I could beat up a salmonid with an arm tied behind my back," said Pearl. As she grabbed her arm from punching the air obviously out of shape like Marina was saying as she jeered.

Marina sighed and shook her head. After an hour of a grueling walk of Pearl not shutting up. The two of them arrived at Pearl's mansion. The Pygmy Mansion bought for her from her rich parents. Pearl was in fact a trust fund child and inherited much of the money from her parents' stocks in Tentatek and other companies that provided goods to the turf war games.

The pop duo walked inside the luxurious mansion. It was small but lavorius as it was perched on a hill just outside of Inkopolis. Marina headed toward her room while Pearl just jumped on the white leather couch exhausted from the long walk. She picked up a jar of mayonnaise that had been left out. She forgot to put it back in the fridge as it had soured. She threw the mayo back up and tossed the jar on the floor. "Yuck! Hey Rina, wait for me!" she shouted as she got up and followed Marina to her room.

Marina's room was large but average looking for a pop star but unlike any pop star, Marina was very intelligent and had constructed a secret lab behind a wall in her room. She had a hidden handprint scanner on the wall which opened a secret door to the lab. There she laid her laptop down and headed over to some computers. Pearl followed behind her looking around. "Rina, I'm not sure why you fool with this stuff. I know your smart and all but looks like a waste of talent to me," said Pearl in indignation, crossing her arms.

"Pearly, it's not a waste of time. It's what I enjoy; if you remember me telling you, I was an engineer in the octarian army. I admit I was pretty advanced in the octarian schools and made my way to designing and constructing octoweapons. I...wasn't always happy about it. I always wanted to come up to the surface and use my talents for good. That's why I have this lab Pearl," said Marina.

"Rina, I didn't mean it like that, it's just... I don't understand why you need all this. I let you stay in my mansion and perform with me, isn't that enough. Sometimes you stay down here more than you do than spending time with me when we're not giving the news or performing concerts," said Pearl.

"It's just... this is important too. I regret being in the octarian army and I wanted to do something to redeem my past mistakes. There's something else I never told you Pearl," said Marina.

"What's that, what have you left out now?" asked Pearl crossing her arms as she gave marina an uneasy look.

"I was assigned to a team of researchers after I was in the engineers, seeing how smart I was. They were digging up remains of the ancients or humans as we found out they were called and their technology. We stumbled onto a metal pod with something inside. We opened it and found a frozen subject inside; a human to be more precise. Unfortunately, we couldn't revive it back so we took DNA samples and... dissected it," said Marina squeamishly.

"Wait a minute, you talkin' bout like the fossil in that museum?" asked a stunned Pearl.

"Y...Yeah, we were fascinated by it. We were hoping to somehow clone it, but we had no luck. The project was stopped once the octarians saw they couldn't benefit from it," explained Marina. "Since then I've always wanted to meet a human, they seemed intriguing and I was heartbroken to hear that the research was cut and I was put back with the engineers," finished Marina.

"Who cares about some dumb fossils. All I know is they're probably not around anymore because they were stupid or something, " said Pearl with discontent.

"Pearly, our technology, even the city of inkopolis was constructed by humans long ago even the underground octarian domes were. They must have been very smart to do all that, I don't understand why you don't see that," said Marina.

"Whatevs, Rina. Best there aren't any humans around. I mean yeah, sure, all of our stuff came from them but their gone and we just took it and used it, no sense in it going to waste. I don't know what the big deal is with those fossils," said Pearl.

Marina just remained quiet and turned back towards her desk. "Well, I'm going to see if there's any more mayonnaise in the fridge yo! peace out," said Pearl as she headed back to the kitchen.

Marina pulls out her laptop and places it on the desk. She pulls out a flash drive and places it in the laptop causing a window on her screen to pop up. "Now I have some time to catch up on the research I've been putting off, (sigh) the price of publicity I guess. I hope the great zapfish is brought back soon, this could jeopardize peace between the inklings and octarians," said Marina with deep concern.

* * *

Flash, Ben and Jazz had just witnessed the octo rebels capture the great zapfish. "Oh no! The great zapfish!" shouted Ben as Jazz gasped at the sight. The inklings soon panicked at three of them were snapped out of their trance on the octarians diabolic act. The inklings scattered and stampeded out of the square with Flash and Ben getting shoved down by their scarred inklings. Jazz was pushed to the ground, almost getting trampled on. "Flash, Ben, help!" she cried.

Flash and Ben fought their way getting up and turned to the direction of Jazz. Once they saw her the two of them helped her up and brushed themselves off, staring back to the Deca Tower, now unvacant and the big electrical fish gone as well as the octozeppelin it was loaded aboard.

Flash and his friends were sitting at a table in the square since they couldn't play in the turf war games with Inkopolis having no power. "What do we do now?" asked Jazz as she fretted over the power outage.

"This sucks! No more turf wars until we get the power back! What will we do now!?" asked an agitated Ben.

Flash was too busy stuck in thought to care or hear what his friends were saying. "Flash?...FLASH!" they both yelled in unison as Flash jolted out of his concentration.

"W...What!" shouted Flash as Jazz and Ben looked at him. His agitatation resolved and he turned back around away from his friends. "Sorry you guys, I've just been...thinking about things. Now the great zapfish is gone and things have gotten worse," said Flash as he buried his face in the table.

Jazz approached Flash and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Flash, you haven't been yourself since Izzy left. You haven't trained or even browsed inside Ammo Knights like you normally do but right now Izzy isn't a priority. She's probably out there scarred like everyone else right now and you need to stop dwelling on that girl and think about the fate of Inkopolis. I think losing the turf wars is the least of our problems," she said.

"Yeah, dude. Look, I think we outta leave and head home. Hopefully the army will do something about this," said Ben.

Flash rose his head and turned to his friends. "(sigh) I guess you're right, there's nothing we can do right now. I just hope Izzy's safe wherever she's at," said Flash.

"I'm sure she is dude, hey! What about we all just over to my place. We haven't, you now...done a sleepover in a while, we'll find something to pass the time," said Ben.

"That's like a good idea, Flash how about it?" asked Izzy.

"I'll pass you guys, I'm just going to go home. I'm sure my mom is worried sick," said Flash as he turned away.

Just then an inkling with short pink tentacles walked toward the group. It was Suki looking at all three of them. Flash looked at her and just sulked "What do you want?" asked Flash in an unpleasant tone.

"Just wanted to come over and say hi, is all," said Suki.

Jazz and Ben bit their lips to not say anything with Flash just glaring up at the inkling girl. "So where's the rookie?" she asked.

"Gone thanks to you...what did you tell her?" asked Flash still agitated by Suki's presence.

"The truth," she responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Flash getting more agitated.

"I guess I can't say I blame her for leaving," said Suki. "I told her you were all flash and no substance is all," she continued.

"Suki if anything happens to her, it'll be on your head. What happened between us is none of her business. I wish you would let it go!" shouted Flash as he faced the inkling girl.

Suki could see Flash clenching his fist as if he were ready to strike her. She decided to back off and gave the inkling boy a fake smile. "I guess I better leave then, since their's no turf war games anyway. Be seein' ya round," said Suki as she turned and walked away.

"What's her deal?" asked Jazz in irritation.

"You ok Flash?" asked Ben as he saw Flash's face darkened.

"I'm fine... I just need to go," said Flash as he started leaving the square.

"Flash wait!" shouted Jazz as she started to stop him. She was soon grabbed by Ben who shook his head.

"Let him go Jazz, he needs time to himself. Let's just swing by my place for a while," said Ben as Jazz nodded. She looked back with Ben, worried about their friend as he disappeared past the entry into the square.

* * *

Marie watched in horror looking at a video screen that was being fed from Sheldon's drone that was flying over the dome Blake was in. She witnessed the flooded running over Blake leaving nothing but a big trail of octarian ink behind it. "Blake! Come in! Blake!" she shouted on her radio. She pounded the table in frustration.

There was no response as Marie stared back at the screen. She downed her head until static could be heard on the radio. "Agent 2," said a muffled voice on the radio. "Agent 2!" it said louder.

"Blake! I mean Agent 0, are you there!?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm here, I managed to get out of its way at the last second," said Blake.

"Oh Cod, you're alive," said Marie in joy. "I thought you were dead," she continued.

"Alive and kicking," said Blake as he looked to the flooder which quit dispensing ink and shut down. "Must have run out of power or something, now's my chance to get to the factory before any more of those dumb tentacles show up," said Blake as he turned back to the factory. "Unfortunately I'm out of ink, I think the recycler got damaged during the fighting. (sigh) I guess I'm going to have to do everything the old fashioned way," said Blake.

"I'll let Sheldon know, please be careful Blake and try not to killed, I'll never hear the end of it from Callie or gramps if something were to happen to you," said Marie.

"You sure it's not you who is deeply concerned about my well-being, Agent 2," said Blake as Marie blushed on the other end.

"Well... of course, I am, you're like family to me too, what are you insinuating?" asked Marie as she was starting to get flustered.

"I didn't insinuate anything, it's just you've seemed a little overprotective of me than usual," said Blake.

"What? Of course, I would be, you can't respawn and your the only one I can trust to save Callie, Just, Just, hurry and make your way to the factory, I gotta go, Agent 2 out," said Marie as she hurried to get off the radio.

"What was that all about?" said Blake seeing through Marie's defensive behavior. He shrugged and made his way to the factory's main entrance. Once there he saw it being guarded by more octotroopers and two octosnipers on the roof scanning the street below. "Should've known much, they would be guarding the factory and I'm out of ink, what do I do now?" pondered Blake.

For a moment, Blake wasn't sure what to do. He then thought of a way to lead the octotroopers away from the main doors of the factory. He jumped out of cover and taunted the tentacles. "Hey you stupid tentacles!" shouted Blake.

"Huh!" responded the octotroopers as they turned toward Blake.

"I bet you can't catch me you dumb tentacles!" he shouted again.

The octotroopers jumped and gargled. They went after Blake leaving their posts as he led them away from the main gate. He hopped behind a junked car and the octotroopers stopped looking around for the human. Blake pulled out a splat bomb and peered over the car to see the octotroopers look around. "Where'd that fossil go!?" one of the shouted in frustration. When they turned away from his direction, he jumped on the roof of the car and lobbed the splat bomb at them. They turned around and didn't have enough time to react as they were splatted off their platforms.

Blake admired his work and headed back to the factory. He hugged the wall as not to get spotted by the octosnipers as he slowly crept to the front doors. He opened the doors and snuck in entering a front lobby area. Walking past the empty lobby and down a hallway he could hear movement ahead in the side rooms of the hallway. He snuck into one of the rooms before someone spotted him. An octotrooper came out and looked down the hallway and saw no one. It went back into the room and Blake peered out to the hallway to see the octotrooper gone.

"How am I gonna get past the guards?" he asked himself. He thought of a plan and hugged the wall near the doorway the octotrooper went through. He could hear the multiple octotroopers talking to one another. "Seen anything?" asked one octotrooper.

"Nothing but I've been hearing about the recent intrusion of a squidbeak agent inside the dome," said the other octotooper. A twintacle stepped in and looked at the two octotroopers. "Alright you two, stay sharp! Multiple reports of a squidbeak agent defeating our forces outside the factory and not only that it appears to be the human. If this is true this is deeply troubling," said the twintacle.

"The human! How are we supposed to take on a human, I'm sure our ink is ineffective on it!" said the first octotrooper.

"Yeah! How are we supposed to fight that fossil!" shouted the other.

"Stop your complaining and stay on guard! That human is not make it inside this factory! Got it!" ordered the twintacle. The two octotroopers nodded and gulped as the twintacle turned away. They looked at each other then sepearted. One octotrooper went in one direction while the other went out the doorway to the hall.

When Blake heard the octotrooper come back he grabbed it off its platform as it came out and slammed it against the wall, knocking it out. Blake hoped on its platform which he couldn't figure out how to move. "How do you work this thing? There aren't any controls," said Blake with irritation. As he moved his feet across the pad on the platform it started to move in the direction his feet would move.

"Wait, that's how you drive this thing, ok, I think I got it now," said Blake. He directed the platform to move him down the hallway hoping that he would also be able to utilize the ink blaster on it. Just as he almost made at the end of the hallway another octotrooper appeared. "Oh, Carp!" Blake shouted. The octotrooper spotted him and shot towards him. "How do you shoot this thing!" shouted Blake trying to get the platforms's blaster to work.

The octarian continued to shoot with Blake kneeling down behind the platform as cover. The platform weaved and bumped back and forth on the walls as Blake was making his way toward the octotrooper. "What do I do!" shouted Blake. The octotrooper kept firing as Blake decided to bail off the platform, while it headed for the little tentacle. "Oh shit!" it shouted as it tried to evade the runaway platform but didn't have time. The platform rammed into it's and into the next room. The two platforms flew off the ledge of the balcony with the octotrooper thrown off it's platform and splatted on the floor below while the platforms crashed below and exploded.

"That was close! I'll never try to steer one of those things again!" said Blake as he pulled himself up. He made his way down a staircase to the floor below and continued to the octoweapon assembly line. As he headed down the staircase he didn't notice that a camera was monitoring his progress. A group of octolings were watching him through a TV screen in what appears to be a monitoring station in the factory. One octoling elite in the room was looking at Blake through the screen and gives a grin through her goggles. "The human is resourceful, I'll give him that much," said the elite after seeing how he dealt with that octotrooper through his clumpsy antics. She turned back to the octoling regulars in the room. "He's headed to the assembly line, cut off his route and ensure he doesn't take the zapfish powering up the factory," ordered the elite.

"Yes, Ma'am," the said in unison before leaving out of the room in octo form. The elite turned back to the TV screens seeing Blake move through another camera. She grinned behind her goggles. "Let's see what you're made of," she said sinisterly before chuckling.


	55. Arc 3 Chapter 10

**Arc 3 Chapter 10**

Izzy popped out of the kettle at the next dome. She jumped out and looked around. The dome was dark but illuminated by lights aligning the surrounding walls of the dome. The screens were off instead of displaying a fake sky above like the last dome. Ahead of the path was a large floating station that supplied power to the dome it was centered around. "What is this place?" Izzy asked herself. She walked over to the ledge of the platform she was one, seeing what kind obstacles would lie ahead. A sign near the ledge caught Izzy's attention. It read Zapfish Powerstation.

"Maybe this is where the great zapfish is being held," said Izzy. She turned back to the large hovering powerstation and spotted a path way leading to her objective.

"Izzy, you there?" asked Sheldon on the headset.

"Yeah, Sheldon. I guess this is were the octarians get their power supply for the domes," said Izzy.

"It's hard for the drone to see anything in here. I'm going to have a hard time spotting enemies but yes by what I can conclude is this is the octo rebel's main power supply point. I'm sure it's well guarded with numerous and better troopers to guard it , if the great zapfish is being held there," said Sheldon.

Izzy gave a deep breath as she was unsure what would lie ahead. "I can do this," said Izzy to herself, trying to reassure her abilities.

"Izzy you still there?" asked Sheldon as Izzy remained quiet and nervous.

"Y...Yeah, I'm fine..." she said with hesitation.

"Izzy, don't worry, you did well in the last dome just stay focused and watch your surroundings. I'm not going to be able to help you much as dark is the interior of the dome is. Think about what Blake said and you'll get through this," said Sheldon.

"Thanks Sheldon, your right. I got a zapfish to get back and I'm not going to let those octo rebels stop me. For Flash and all of Inkopolis!" shouted Izzy gaining her confidence back.

"That's the spirit! A squidbeak agent never gives up!" shouted Sheldon.

Izzy slowly walked down a path of floating obstacles but she soon noticed that some of the platforms ahead were electrified with a little generator on the bottom of them.

"Be careful Agent 4, It seems the surface of those platforms have been electrified but it appears they only stay like that for a few seconds, then you can walk over them. Watch your step and wait for the electricity to power down before going across," said Sheldon.

"Yeah, I'll be sure not to get jolted, I don't want to end up like grilled squid," said Izzy nervously.

She waited for the opportunity and jumped across to the platform and hopped off before it was electrified again.

On the next platform she spotted another crate and shot it. Inside were more power eggs she collected before continuing her path. Ahead was another electrified platform this time, it was spinning vertically with the generator on the side instead of the bottom. All 4 sides were electrified. Izzy thought for a moment and waited for a chance to hop on the spinning platform when it powered down.

She hopped on but lost her balance for a moment as if she was on a spinning log. She hopped across again before it was electrified making it to another floating surface with another crate full of power eggs. She spotted another electrified platform this time spinning toward her direction in a counter-clockwise motion. This seemed much harder to stay on as Izzy stared nervously hoping she wouldn't fall off. She gulped and jumped onto the platform. It spun and Izzy had a difficult time staying on as it spun. The generator hummed and was about to shock the platform she was on.

"oh no," said Izzy in concern. She hopped to another surface of the platform and barely made it across before it shocked the surface she was on but didn't make it on the next hovering platform. She grabbed the ledge and pulled herself up. She looked ahead and saw something at the other side. It was an orb-shaped object with fins behind it. "That's a riderail!" shouted Sheldon.

"Riderail?" responded Izzy.

"Yes, a riderail is activated when you shoot at it. It deploys a line of ink to the next dispenser. You can ride down it in your bipedal form to the next station," explained Sheldon.

"It sounds a little scary, are you sure I won't fall, Sheldon," said Izzy nervously.

"No, your shoes will allow you to stick onto the ink, you'll be fine, Blake's shoes can do the same thing," said Sheldon reassuring Izzy.

"Ok, then," said Izzy as she shot the riderail and as soon as she did it shot a stream of ink upward to the next dispenser creating an ink rail as Sheldon said. Izzy hopped on and she rode on to the rail. "This is kinda fun," said Izzy with her fear resolving. She rode down the riderail until she spotted an octotrooper on a tower the riderail was spiraling around. The octotrooper spotted her and shot its ink at the agent. Izzy splattered it as she kept going and another octotrooper was higher up retaliating, seeing its comrade be killed by the inkling. Izzy like the first one splatted it off its platform. The riderail ended at the top of the tower where another riderail dispenser was sitting.

The riderail dispenser was aimed toward the large power station at the center of the dome. Searchlights could be seen scanning the area around and she could make out more octarian rebels guarding the perimeter around the station. She shot the riderail and rode down. The line was in a straight downward slope heading closer to the station. Izzy rode the rail and soon some octocopters spotted her. They hovered over the rail and on the sides in an attempt to knock her off. She managed to splat 3 octocopters as she rode down to the next platform. There see landed on a floating metal platform as she looked ahead and saw more obstacles and octarians she would have to face.

* * *

Blake was making his way closer to the assembly line area of the octoweapons factory. He reached a pair of large double doors but they were locked. He rammed and shoved against them but they wouldn't budge. "How do I get through here? Is there a way around?" he asked himself. He turned around and headed back where he came from seeing another hallway. At the end was another pair of double doors.

He approached them and to his luck, he opened them but inside were more octarians. The room was large, filled with containers and bins. In the center of the room was a large machine that had a catwalk going around it that an octotrooper was patrolling. On the other side of the room was another octotrooper and twintacle guarding what looked like a large metal safe that was apparently still open with a large key inside it.

"I wonder if that key unlocks those doors back there?" asked Blake. He hid behind a bin containing large metal fish-shaped objects. The octotrooper looked toward his direction and then turned around the other way, continuing its patrolling. Blake snuck up closer until he got on the catwalk and hugged the cover against the large machine. He waited for the octotrooper to come back. Once it did he sprung out and knocked the little tentacle off his platform.

"What was that!" shouted the twintacle hearing the octotrooper fall of its platform around the corner. "Go check it out!" he ordered the other octotrooper. As The octotrooper made his way. Blake grabbed a metal fish-like object lying on the catwalk and threw it at the octarian once it got close enough. Like the first it was knocked off its platform. "What the! Intruder!" shouted the twintacle as it turned on the alarm. Blake ran behind it to stop the octarian but it was too late. He punched the twintacle and knocked it out.

The alarms were sounding out throughout the factory and the rebels were put on high alert. Octolings headed toward the room Blake was in, in octo form as they slithered down the hallway. "Crap! I guess everyone knows I'm here now!" shouted Blake. He headed over to the safe and grabbed the key that was in it.

He turned toward the exit to be stopped by octopuses jumping through the doors. They changed back and stared at Blake. One elite amongst the group stepped forward. "Well, well, well... what do we have here? What do you think your doing fossil?!" sneered the elite as she pulled her goggles up.

"Oh just taking a tour but it seems like I got lost on the way," said Blake rubbing the back of his head. "I think I'll be going now," he continued and when he stepped around the octolings they aimed their weapons at him to stop his movement. "You'tr not going anywhere...but with us," said the elite with her weapon aimed at Blake.

Blake backed up next to a bin full of metal fish and grabbed one. "I don't think so!" shouted Blake. He soon flung the metal fish at the octolings but they shifted forms and evaded the flying object and changed back shortly.

Get Him!" The elite shouted. The octolings pulled their octoshots towards Blake and began shooting. Blake took cover as the octolings shot at him covering the bin with their ink. "Hold your fire!" the elite shouted. The octolings stoped and the elite turned toward where Blake was. "Human! You have three seconds to comply! Surrender now and we may go easy on you! Escape is futile!" She shouted.

"What do I do now? Think Blake, Think," said Blake frantically until he thought of a plan. He remembered when he and Cuttlefish were surrounded by Octavio's forces during the war but unfortunetly he had no ink and had to improvise. He quickly looked through his pack and saw he was out of splat bombs. "Damn it!" jeered Blake.

"Times up! Move in and capture the human!" ordered the elite to the other octolings.

"Ok! I surrender!" shouted Blake as he popped out with his hands up.

The elite and regulars had their weapons drawn on him just in case he tried something. "Stay right where you are fossil!" shouted the elite. She directed two regulars to walk over and subdue Blake. He quickly reached be hind his back and pulled out an object. The elites haltered as Blake lobbed it toward the octolings, thinking that he had thrown a splat at the group. "Take cover!" shouted an octoling regular but it was too late as the octolings shielded themselves with arms but nothing happened.

"Huh..." responded on octoling as she looked and saw a krabby cake sitting on the floor among them. "What the..." replied another octoling then bam! Blake knocked the octoling to the floor as he then kicked another one down while they were confused. Blake grabbed another octoling that aimed her weapon at Blake but grabbed the octoshot as they wrestled with it. The fourth octoling aimed her weapon at Blake but he decided to then subdue the octoling he was fighting with and use her to shield him from the shot of ink she was struck by her comrade.

She yelped from the hit and Blake shoved her into the other octoling, knocking them both to the floor. Bam! Blake was struck in the back of the head of the elite. "Damn fossil!" she jeered as she hunkered down during the little skirmish. Blake rubbed his head and turned to the elite that was about to kick him. He grabbed her leg as she swung and flung across the laid out octolings. She landed down and recovered, soon she set her sights back on the human who got into a fighting stance.

"Ha...you put up a pretty good fight human...shame your little friend, that octoling turncoat didn't but don't worry...you'll be joining after we're done," she sneered, glaring at Blake.

Blake growled and rushed the elite, swing his fists but she evaded all of his punches and grabbed him. She kneed him in the stomach and delivered an uppercut to his jaw causing him to fly back and land on the floor. He spit up blood and wiped his mouth looking up at the elite. "Had enough?" she asked him.

"No, I've got room for seconds," said Blake as he gave her a grin. The elite sneered and got ready to attack but Blake spotted a pipe overhead and thought of a trick.

"You're tough, I'll give you that but it's time to end this little scuffle," said the elite. At that moment Blake rushed toward the elite but didn't count on him grabbing the pipe and landing a powerful kick launching the elite into the wall in front of him. The elite jeered and laid on the floor, incapitated. Blake jumped down and picked up the krabby cake. He took the cake and rubbed it against his shirt. "I know I'm breaking the 3 second rule but their's no sense in letting this krabby go to waste," said Blake as he bit into the cake.

He turned back toward the exit and looked at elite who was unresponsive and gave a deep sigh before finally leaving the room. Before he left he spotted the metal fish lying on the floor. He picked it up and examined it. "I better keep this as a weapon...or a sovenir," said Blake as he headed down the hallway.

"Sheldon? I haven't heard from you in a while, how's Izzy doing?" asked Blake still holding the metal fish.

"She's doing good, she's done gotten an upgrade collecting all those power eggs and moved on to the next area," said Sheldon.

"That's good to hear. I knew she could do it," said Blake.

"Thanks to your confidence in her. She managed to defeat an Octohurler in the dome she was in," said Sheldon.

"I can't take all the credit Sheldon. I think she's finally found confidence in herself. I just hope she doesn't get too ambitious and gets caught off guard but I'm sure she won't. Anyways, Sheldon you think you could air drop me an ink tank?" asked Blake.

"I'll see what I can do, but it's going to be hard since you're inside the factory but I'll see what I can do," said Sheldon. Blake reached the end of the hallway and stepped on a balcony. Down below was the assembly line where they were rebuilding the octoweapons for their army. He saw numerous octotroopers and octocopters guarding the floor. He looked around and finally spotted a zapfish being held inside an orb but it was being well guarded. Octosnipers were perched on the ledge of the platform, scanning the area for threats.

"Hmm...I gotta try and sneak over there without attracting attention. It's not gonna be easy though with all those talking tentacles guarding the whole area," Blake walked down the catwalk and to a staircase leading down toward the floor level out of sight.

* * *

"Captain...Captain..." said a faint voice as another could be heard snoring. "Captain," said the voice again trying to wake a sleeping figure. "CAPTAIN!" shouted the figure as the other jolted from their slumber.

"AAHH! W...What! I'm awake! What's going on!" shouted the startled Cuttlefish with big eyes as he flailed his arms.

"Captain, you fell asleep! We're almost at the cape!" exclaimed Cassie.

"I was just catching up on some sleep lass! There's no need to scare me like that. I could have fallen out of the boat!" said an agitated Cuttlefish waving his fist.

Cassie rolled her eyes and continued directing the boat. "I wish we could've taken another way to get there, I don't like surrounded by water, you know we can't swim," said Cassie.

It was a couple of hours that Cassie and Cuttlefish left flounder heights and headed for the docks. It was there that they had to use Cuttlefish's little boat in order to reach the cape since any other kind of transportation was down and mass transit was grinded to a halt. Cassie hated being on the boat being surrounded by water since inklings couldn't swim and would splat once they felt they were going to drown.

"Well with no power in the city, this is the fastest way to the cape, lass, I'm sorry," said Cuttlefish as he calmed down.

"(sigh) I guess I'll be glad when Blake and Izzy get Callie and the great zapfish back. I don't understand why the neo octarians couldn't have taken Octavio sooner. Then this wouldn't have happened!" said Cassie with annoyance. The octarians were initially supposed to bring Octavio back to the valley to stand trail for his past crimes but the operations of the octo rebels made less of a priority and the valley octarians instead put their focus on stopping the rebels and their plans to jeopardize the peace treaty.

"What's done is done lass, all we can do is entrust Bucko and your friend with the mission to find my grandsquid and the great zapfish, let's, for now, focus on getting to the cape," said Cuttlefish.

After 10 minutes, the two of them spotted the cape. On top of the cliffside was a lighthouse and cottage. Seagulls could be seen flying overhead while the ocean waves slammed against the cliff and rocks below. "There's a dock lass," said Cuttlefish after spotting a little boardwalk along side the beach. "I see it, Captain," said Cassie as the two of them headed for the little dock.

Cassie parked the boat next to the dock and the two of them headed off the and onto a step case leading to the lighthouse. The two of them made their way to the cottage and lighthouse and looked around. "What is this place captain?" asked Cassie. "All I know is it was built by humans, it's been here since I first spotted years ago while I was fishing," said Cuttlefish.

"Humans?" asked Cassie who was a little stunned.

"I would assume so since the signs are unreadable, it certainly isn't in inkling," said Cuttlefish.

Cassie walks over toward the cottage and looks inside. The windows were covered in moss and the inkling couldn't make much out inside the abandoned house. She headed over to the door to open it. "Be careful Lass, we don't know if anyone lives here or not," said Cuttlefish cautiously. Izzy slowly turned the knob and opened the door. She peered inside and looked. Much of the inside was coated with dust and mildew. furniture was coated as well and an old bookcase could be seen leaning against the wall toward the left side of the room.

She walked and saw that the place wasn't being abandoned. "Looks like no one's lived here in years, captain," said Cassie as she looked around.

"Your right lass, wonder what happened to the owner?" asked Cuttlefish as he followed her. The two of them look around in slight amazement. It was definitely abandoned as it seemed to have survived the great floods from long ago with the structure still sound but the walls covered in moss and barnacles.

Cassie spotted a dust-covered book on a table and grabbed it. She blew it off and opened it. The book read: property of Professor Jebediah Jones in small lettering on top. Larger lettering below read: Serum research on oceanic organisms. Soon Cassie recognized a logo on the bottom of the page. "Cuttlefish...isn't this the Kamabo symbol?" asked Cassie.

Cuttlefish walked over and looked. "You're right lass, that must mean we're on the right track, let's keep looking for anything else," said Cuttlefish as he spotted the Kamabo symbol on the bottom of the page. "I wish I could read this," said Cassie as she continued to look through the book. Inside were more notes but soon she stumbled across pictures of oceanic creatures. She saw pictures of sea urchins, crustaceans, and sea anemones. There were more sea creatures and then she spotted some cephalopods on the next page. "What are these... wait, a minute...that looks like a... squid?" said a flabbergasted Cassie seeing the picture of a normal squid. She saw the picture of an octopus on the page over. "An octopus?" said Cassie in confusion.

Cassie was locked on the picture of the squid and octopus. "They look different, could these... have been our ancestors or something?" said Cassie. She turned toward Cuttlefish. "Hey, captain, the sunken sea scrolls said that we walked on land many years ago, did our ancestors before that live in water?" asked Cassie.

"I believe so, all I remember is being taught that we did many years ago at one time, but I'm not sure why; no one does," said Cuttlefish.

"If I could only read this book, maybe we'd get more answers," said Cassie.

"Maybe this Kamabo company knows since their logo is in that book, I'd like to take this book back with me" said Cassie. Cassie placed the book back on the table and then spotted a picture on the wall. She jumped up and grabbed it. She wiped it off and saw the picture of a human giving a peace sign with a cat. The cat looked very familiar, then she realized who the cat was. "Judd?" she exclaimed.

"Captain, you said you found Judd in a pod like the one Blake was in before the war. Could this been a friend of his?" asked Cassie.

"I don't know agent, Judd as far as I can remember doesn't know much about his past, much like Blake was," said Cuttlefish as he walked out.

Cassie put the picture back on the wall and went out to follow the captain. They both headed for the lighthouse and opened the door. Inside the lighthouse was a spiral staircase leading up to the top. Under the staircase was a room where Cassie and Cuttlefish decided to head to. Inside was a personnel office with a bookshelf and a desk. A lab set with beakers, tubes and a burner laid on a table. On the wall opposite of the bookshelf was a shelf with jars, canisters and other interesting items. Inside them were different objects possibly samples of some kind from experiments. Cassie spotted what looked like a keycard on the desk and examined it. On it, was the Kamabo logo but it had inkling writing on which Cassie could read: Kamabo Access Card.

"What is this doing here and why is it in inkling?" pondered Cassie. She examined the room again and noticed that it was much more preserved and untouched by the weathering of age and uncovered by the dust and moss. "Why is this place so clean and well, preserved, unlike the place next door? It's like someone's been using it," said Cassie. Cuttlefish also noticed especially with electricity still running the lighthouse, unlike the cottage. As the two looked at the card a noise behind them got their attention as they quickly turned around. A figure appeared through the doorway of the room. Cassie and Cuttlefish jolted from seeing a silhouette of a figure holding a weapon on them. "I was hoping you two wouldn't come here," said the figure as Cassie and Cuttlefish were startled as they stared at the figure.

* * *

Meantime Sergeant Maxie was being taken to a location known as Tentacle Towers. She was being transported in a small armed convey of three Octostomp DXs. tracked APCs that were supplied to the octo rebels in very limited numbers by the red queen. The had the appearance of a tank but with an octarian face in the front. The octo rebels were taking the sergeant to an abandoned city constructed by the octarians years ago before the great power outage. This city was to be named New Octopolis and expansion of the capital back in Octovalley due to the growing population of octarians.

The city was left abandoned due to the great power outage 50 years ago. For some time it was run by octarian bandits searching for food or supplies until they either left out or joined the octo rebels. Since then it has provided a mainstay for the octo rebels. The convoy came out of a tunnel on a road leading to New Octopolis, inside the city they headed for a tall building that was erected in the center of the city, known as Tentacle Towers. The large building was shaped sorta like three giant tentacles that shot up from the foundation and leaned downward. The building was incomplete and under construction when the project was left abandoned exposing the inner floors and incomplete surfaces and temporary elevators.

The convoy stopped in front of the tower and the octolings dismounted. The middle Octostomp DX was where the sergeant was held and she guided and out and led inside the towers. "C'mon!" shouted an octoling that pushed her with her octoshot. The group headed up at the top floor several floors above where the sergeant would be confined. The group walked out of the elevator and made their way through the top floor to the otherside where there was a large caged area that was originally used for holding tools and equipment for construction.

"In here!" commanded an octoling to the sergeant. "Move it!" shouted the octoling behind Maxie as she pushed her in the cage. Just as soon as Maxie was in she was knocked out from behind by the octoling's weapon. She fell to the floor unconscious. "Have a nice nap!" sneered the octoling as she walked out and locked the cage behind her.

As some of the octoling rebels left one octoling stayed behind looking at Sergeant Maxie, her commander when she was a assigned to her recon team. She was put in a trance by the neo octo goggles she was wearing. It was Selena staring at Maxie with a blank expression trying to resist the power the goggles had over mentally. But to no success, all that could be heard was "I'm sorry, sergeant," Selena said saddened but faintly. She left following the rebels back down.

"Sergeant-Major to Major, come in," said the rebel octoling.

"Major to Sergeant-Major report!" shouted the scar-faced elite over the radio.

"The traitor has been placed in confinement as you ordered," said the sergeant-major.

"Excellent, all we have to do is wait for that human to take the bait and rescue the little turncoat," sneered the elite still on the radio.

"We'll be ready for that human if he can make it past the octo-samurai," said the sergeant-major.

"Once we have that human in custody, Operation Teal Dawn will continue on its final preparations," replied the elite.

"But what about Octavio, we know he's not onboard with Teal Dawn and wants to attack Inkopolis soon, once all of our forces will be ready," said the sergeant-major.

"Let me deal with Octavio, he may be our commander but the red queen is calling the shots. He is still useful but it is unfortunate that he would decline his support for the Red Queen's plan for a new world. We will make the promised land a reality, Octavio or not. Long live the octarians!" said the elite.

"Long live the Octarians!" replied the sergeant-major along with the rest of the octolings in the room as they held their weapons up.

As the scar-faced major got off the radio with the sergeant-major she was on her way to a location known as the vault. She got a hold of the red queen on her octophone. "Yes, Ma'am I'm headed for the vault along with a platoon of my forces," said the major.

"good, inform me when you get there, it's a shame that my grandfather is not willing to aid us in the operation. Once we've captured the human subject we may be able to get inside. Once we do our goal will be met and we commence the final stages of Teal Dawn. A new perfect world will begin and no longer shall there be a divide between inklings and octolings," said the red queen.

"I assure that human will not escape this time," said the major.

"For your sake, he better not," sneered the red queen.

"Yes, ma'am," said the major.

"Call me when you capture the human and get inside the vault," said the red queen as she hung up.

The major put her phone away and continued down to the vault with her platoon of octolings.

* * *

In a faraway land across the ocean somewhere is another war was being waged two sides that have yet to be revealed. What remnants of civilization was battling for their survival over powerful and unknown enemy that seeked to control or destroy their adversaries and was slowly gaining a foothold over the opposition and winning the war. Can these remnants hold back against their powerful enemy and survive as they were biding their time and running out of options.

A figure was attempting to sleep only for it to be interrupted. "Hey...Hey!" shouted another voice. They mumbled and blinked their eyes.

"Huh? What?" responded the figure as they looked around. The room was vacant with brick walls and sunlight bleeding through the ceiling. They rubbed their eyes until the presence of another figure caught their attention. This new figure was neither an inklng nor an octoling or for that matter any ocean-based life form but a human. He was wearing a baseball cap and a button up flanel shirt. His eyes were blue with short brown hair under his cap.

"Dude, it's been over an hour and I'm sure they're wondering where we are at, you need to get up," said the human.

The sleeping figure then stood up and stretched. They like the first figure was also a human. His hair was a little longer and more unruly that the other's. He had brown eyes and wore a red bandana across his head. He was wearing a t-shirt with a vest and a bandolier across his torso. He turned to the other human and scratched his head.

"Bro, what do you expect. We were up all of last night pulling guard duty at the main entrance. Has anyone been on the radio?" asked the human with the bandana.

"I haven't anything, it's been quiet...odd," said the human wearing the cap. "We better leave before Marcus starts screaming on the radio where we're at," he continued.

""When does Marcus not chew our asses out. That guy can be a real dick," said the human with the bandana as he grabbed his shotgun laying against the wall.

"Maybe so but he's still in command...what was that?" exclaimed the other human as he picked his sniper rifle off the floor. He heard what sounded like something getting knocked down in the room behind them. He turned back to the other human and then they both looked. "We better check it out, we might not be alone," said the human wearing the cap.

The wall behind them going into the other room was covered by a fake wall, a shroud that hid them so they wouldn't get caught. The human wearing the cap pulled the fake wall up and peered inside while the other human aimed his shotgun into the entry way. The walked in with their weapons up on guard for any intrusion. They didn't spot anything and continued on through the decrepit building.

"Stay on guard and be ready for anything," said the human with the sniper rifle.

"Got ya six bro," said the one with carrying the shotgun.

They both stepped in a large room filled with chairs and tables. They hopped a large stage after leaving out of the other room. They stayed on guard and scanned the area with their weapons drawn. "Clear!" shouted one human. "Clear!" shouted the other. They made their way to a pair of double doors on the other side. Still alert they slowly opened them and scanned the room.

"So far so good, I guess paranoid is all," said the human with the baseball cap.

"Yeah..." said the other human nervously rubbing the back of his head. Just then a flock of pigeons flew from behind some turned over tables and over the two humans. They both panicked and hit the floor. They yelped and covered their heads as they were surprised at the flock of birds that flrew over them and out of a hole in the roof.

They slowly got up and looked up, seeing birds fly off. "Dude, you were so scarred," said the human with the bandana as laughed.

"Look who's talking! You were the first one to drop!" shouted the other angrily.

A loud stomp startled the two as the human with the cap was about to hit the other, but the noise jarred them both toward the direction of the stomp. They aimed their weapons toward the entrance of the lobby they were in and lowered them once they saw a figure standing in front of them. The figure was another human sporting a od green jacket and camo cargo pants. He had short spikey dark hair and glared at the two other humans. The two of them looked at each other with worrisome expressions.

"Umm...Marcus...hey, we can explain, me and..." started the human with the bandana. "Can it Flint!" shouted Marcus as Flint backed up. "You two were supposed to be patrolling the street! Not dicking off somewhere!" shouted Marcus with anger.

Marcus then turned his gaze toward the human with the sniper rifle. "What do you have to say for yourselves," he asked with his arms crossed.

"Marcus it's been a long day. Me and Flint were just searching the building, we thought we heard something, but a flock of pigeons startled us," said the human with the sniper rifle.

"Well, if you two were doing your damn job you haven't to worry whether or not it was the enemy or a flock of DAMN BIRDS! I want you two back at..." shouted Marcus but another figure cut him off by grabbing his shoulder from behind. The fourth figure was another human, He wore a black vest, black shirt and black cargo pants as if it was some kind of uniform. "Marcus, calm down," said the figure.

Marcus turned toward the two with a frustrated expression and gave a deep breath. He then turned and looked at the other figure in all black. "Fine," he said in defeat as he stormed out of the building they were in. The figure in all black then turned to the other two humans. He crossed his arms and gave a sigh. "Flint...Stone...I want you two to continue patrolling and only patrolling, we afford any surprise attacks, not after how things have been going for us...report back to base camp once your shift is over," said the figure after he walked out.

Deacon had returned to base camp, which he then met back up with Marcus who was brooding in the tent. "Marcus, you got a minute," asked Deacon as she opened the front dooray into the tent.

"Yeah, I guess," said Marcus as he stepped out.

"Marcus (sigh) you need to keep a cooler head. Those two can be a pain in the ass but we need as many personnel defending the sanctuary as we can. We've done lost too many as it is," explained Deacon.

"I know...it's just things have been going downhill for some time now. Morale is declining and so his ammo and supplies. You remember the story I told you...about the colony, about us waking out of those pods 100 years ago. Our parents and their parents were the ones that established the sanctuary. A place where mankind could start over after the great floods from long ago. My folks told me about the city from long ago before the resource wars and oceans finished us off.

"Yes, I remember the story you told me and that your folks..." said Deacon as he then bit his lip as Marcus's expression turned to slight distress.

"Things will get better Marcus," said Deacon as he placed his hand on Marcus's shoulder. Marcus turned away and back inside the tent. Deacon downed his head and turned away seeing that couldn't lift his friend's spirits who dwelled on the dire circumstances they and the remnants of humanity were in.


	56. One-Shot Notice

**One-Shot Notice**

To all readers that have been keeping up with the main story. I'm proud to announce that I'm releasing a one-shot story. The story will be titled **Splatoon Agent Zero Precursor**. The story holds some relevance to the main story and takes place before Cassie joins the squidbeak squad and faces the octarians from the first time they take the great zapfish and before Blake is released from his pod the second time when he was discovered by the agents. The one-shot will feature a new main character, a human like Blake but with a new plot. Characters from the main story will also be featured as well. The one-shot will not be very long and will not be frequently or constantly released like the main story. As a matter of fact I'll be slowing down a little bit on releasing chapters for the main story. The one-shot will feature, I guess you can say some easter eggs to tie it with the main story, but I don't want to release the chapters too soon as to not make spoilers for the main storyline. I decided to go ahead and do this one-shot even though I'm still on Arc 3. More one-shots are to come as I continue releasing chapters and as the main storyline gets deeper. Hope you enjoy it.


	57. Arc 3 Chapter 11

**Arc 3 Chapter 11**

Callie was still in a coma-like state unable to move or wake up due to the hypnoshades that were constructed and placed on the squid sisters face. She had no control of her body and was wearing some kind of revealing suit that looks like something a pop singer would wear. Octavio had just come into the room that Callie was lying in. A dark-complected octoling elite was in the room observing her as he came in. "Well, what's the status of our new performer? squirt," asked Octavio.

"Sir, the squid sister has so far shown some resistance to the shades. She does follow our commands for a period of time but afterward she stops and attempts to pull the shades off. We have to stun her with the shades but we don't want to cause any brain damage. The shades are already set to a high level, anymore and the effects of the shock could fry her brain," said the elite.

"Do whatever it takes! I want to know that the inkling will follow my commands without hesitation. She is a key asset to our plan for invading inkopolis and controlling the rest of the inklings, especially her counter-part and that hipster Cuttlefish," said Octavio with a commanding voice.

"Yes, sir, I'll be sure that our engineers work on the hypnoshades and see if she'll be subjective to our commands," said the elite.

"Good, I want my concert to go without a hitch," said Octavio as he left out of the room followed by the elite.

As Octavio and the elite left. Callie had a tear run down her face hearing what had been said between Octavio and the octoling. She fell back into a deep sleep and was finishing the dream that she had before.

Callie was being led by Marie down a hallway. Marie was in the green and white dress from before while Callie was still in her white and magenta wedding dress. "Marie, wait!" exclaimed Callie as she stopped.

"Yeah, Cal, what is it?" asked Marie as she turned back and looked at Callie.

"I'm...so nervous, I know this is a big day and all but..." said Callie hesitantly before she downed her head carrying the bouquet.

"But what? You pushed for this wedding after Blake proposed. Don't tell me you're getting cold feet, Cal," said Marie.

"This has just happened so fast, I don't know how to handle it," said Callie as she sat down on a nearby bench.

"(deep breath) Cal," said Marie as she sat down next to her cousin. Callie had her head down looking at the floor while Marie reached over and placed her hand on Callie's shoulder. "We've known each other since we were hatchlings back in Calamari County... if you're having second thoughts then you need to let us know, especially Blake," said Marie.

"No, I... want to get married to Blake. I love him, Marie. I guess its just...I'm real nervous, this is a big day for me, for Blake. I know he's the one," said Callie locking on to her cousin. Marie stared at her cousin unsure what to say, not wanting to encourage doubts to her cousin or say something that would hurt Callie's feelings. Callie soon got up and puffed out her chest. "I'm getting married, Marie," said Callie as Marie looked at her and a smile soon come across her face.

"Oh, Cal, I think you'll make a great wife and I think you'll Blake a proud husband. Especially since he'll have to put up with you, I think that'll be the real test if you got a keeper," said Marie as she got up before giving a smirk to her cousin.

Callie got a little flustered and red-faced after her cousin's comment. "What do you mean, put up with me! I..." started Callie but saw her cousin chuckling and realized that she was picking with her. Her slight annoyance with her cousin went away after Marie gave her a smile and her expression turned more serious. "You really think I'll make a good wife, Marie?" asked Callie meekly.

"Of course you will, Cal. I think you'll make a good mother too, won't be longer after, you and Blake will be hearing the pitter-patter of little tentacles," said Marie as Callie blushed.

"Marie! I think it's still a little early to talk about motherhood!" exclaimed Callie with a red face. Marie just shook her head smiled as Callie tried to hide her embarrassment.

"Ok, Cal,... c'mon, I think your groom has waited long enough," said Marie.

The two of them left Callie's parent's home and headed off to Skipper Pavillion where the wedding was being staged at for all of Calamari County to see. The two of them were escorted there by an SUV driven by a jellyfish chauffeur. Callie couldn't believe she was about to get married and especially to the human she loved. The trip to the pavilion was quiet with Callie nervous but anxious to get there. The vehicle soon pulled to Skipper Pavillion where the wedding was to be held. Many inklings, fans, and friends gathered around to see the wedding. Callie and Marie's family was already inside the main hall of the pavilion. After traversing through the crowd od anxious fans, they headed up to the main entrance as jellyfish guards blocked the stairway to keep the inklings away.

The two stood outside of the main hall in the lobby that was behind two large double doors. Callie gave a deep breath as she closed her eyes. "Cal," said Marie.

"Huh?" responded Callie.

"Things will be alright, it's your big day and everyone's going to be happy for you," said Marie as she grabbed Callie's shoulder.

"Oh, Marie," said Callie as she hugged her cousin with a bouquet in hand as she started to cry. They pulled away and Callie sniffled as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Just remember to throw the bouquet at me, ok. I don't want to have to take it from little Anne," said Marie.

"Ok, Marie, I'll remember, well...I'm ready," said Callie as the two opened the doors and headed in.

The dream ended and Callie was still lying on the bed unresponsive. She closed and hands and gripped the bed was laying trying to break out of the trance she was in. It was no use as the squid sister saw that it was futile. "Blake...Marie...I miss you," she mumbled as she started to cry.

* * *

On the assembly floor of the octoweapons factory were layouts of different conveyor belts transporting Sardinium and power eggs further onto the floor for use in constructing octoweapons and other equipment. Their were multiple octarians guarding the assembly line in full force as to not let anyone jeopardize their operations. Blake kicked open the doors and observed the floor. He wasn't spotted yet and rushed behind a pile of crates before he did. Shortly a loud crash and the busting glass caught the attention of the human as he quickly looked up and saw a large drop behind him, almost landing on top of him. "Inkoming!" shouted Sheldon just as the crate landed behind Blake.

"Sheldon! You could gave me a warning sooner not to mention you've probably garnered attention from every octarian on the factory floor!" shouted Blake. Sure enough, the guards were moving in on Blake's location to investigate the crash. Blake quickly opened the case and saw a new tank full of ink and recycler built-in it like the one he had. He turned and saw the octotroopers spotted him. "Intruder! Intruder!" They shouted before shooting at Blake.

"Oh carp! A welcoming party!" shouted Blake as he dove behind cover. The octarians coated the pile of crates with ink. Blake took every chance to lean out of cover and splat each octotrooper he could. "I should've asked some splat bombs, carp...all well time to improvise...again," said Blake with slight frustration. He spotted some ink barrels behind the octotroopers and wondered what would happen if he it them. Think of the red barrels you would see in various video games when they would explode.

"Worth a shot," said Blake as he popped out and shot at the barrels behind the octotroopers. Sure enough, the ink from his weapon and the ink inside the barrel caused it to burst and kill the octotroopers in front of it. "That was...convenient, glad it worked," said Blake as came out from behind cover.

"A, Thanks Sheldon! would be nice," said Sheldon with slight irritation.

"After you almost crushed me with that thing, (sigh) I guess fair enough...thanks Sheldon," said Blake with exasperation.

"You're welcome...also you've got more octo rebels moving in on your location," said Sheldon as the drone could spot movement from the skylights above the factory floor.

Blake ran up to the corner of a wall and spotted the octosniper perched on the balcony ahead of him. "I won't be able to reach that tentacle from here, I gotta try and sneak past it somehow," said Blake. He crouched down and snuck behind a large crate and then rushed to another. So far the octosniper didn't spot him and he was just close enough to hit the octarian when all of a sudden another octotrooper appeared behind him skidding on it's platform. It spotted Blake and jumped up. "It's the fossil!" it shouted. Blake quickly turned around and shot the octarian of it's ride and the octosniper turned toward Blake with an angry glare. It lined it's laser on him and shot. Blake rolled out of cover before he got hit.

"Damn it! If it wasn't for that tattle-telling tentacle..." jeered Blake as an ink shot beamed past him from the octosniper. He jumped behind cover again, out of range and now powerless to the sniper fire. More octotroopers converged on the floor and appeared that Blake was about to get overwhelmed. He couldn't stay in one spot as the octosniper shot at his cover. He spotted a conveyor belt behind him and hopped on.

Blake struggled to get his balance on the moving belt and spotted some octotroopers perched alongside the conveyor. They soon spotted him and attacked. Blake laid down and evaded the ink as much as he could. crates could be seen moving on the conveyor and took this opportunity to use them for cover. He it one octotrooper once he got close enough and then the other further up as the cover protected Blake from enemy ink.

Further up a catwalk ran across the conveyor line and little cube-shaped octarians dropped down and hobbled toward Blake. "What are those supposed to be!" exclaimed Blake.

"Those are octostamps! They're formidable in numbers. Don't get squashed by them!" explained Sheldon.

"Squashed?" replied Blake as one octostamp hopped on the crate he was behind and jumped off to smash Blake on the belt. It's face against the conveyor as it kicked it's little legs. Blake managed to jump back to evade the attack.

"They're not so tough," said Blake as the octostamp got up and stared at him. The other octarians caught up and formed a barrier as to not let Blake get through. Another stream of ink shot past Blake as he saw the octosniper trying to pick him off.

"Little bastards! Alright then!" shouted Blake as he shot at the little octostamps. He killed one while the other three hobbled toward him. The first one tried to smash Blake as it jumped up but he clubbed it with his hero shot knocking it back. The second , like the first, jumped up and attempted to smash Blake but he avoided it. The third one moved in a jumped up into the air and Blake kicked it off the conveyor as it splatted on the floor.

The last two slowly stalked Blake. Then the both jumped up and landed where Blake was as he made a leap into the air before they could land on him. Blake aimed his hero shot down on them from midair and splatted both of them before they could get up. Blake dropped backdown and headed over to the very last octostamp that he struck with his weapon. The octostamp woke up and stared at the end of the hero shot. "Ready for more?" Blake asked it coldly.

The little octostamp gave a shriek and jumped up and hopped off the conveyor, splatting on the floor below. Blake just shook his head and gave a smile. It seemed the way was clear on the conveyor as he rode it toward the end.

Back at Ammo Knight's, Sheldon was keeping an eye Blake. He was impressed with his progress and the front door of the shop got his attention. He walked out of the room to the storefront and saw two inklings walk in. "Hey, you two know that the store is closed due to the power outage right," said Sheldon with hands on his hips.

"We're sorry Sheldon, it's just we had a question to ask you," said Jazz.

"Oh, what is it?" asked Sheldon.

"We were hoping you've seen or heard anything from our friend, her name's Izzy. She has short yellow tentacles and eyes. She hasn't been in Inkopolis very long," said Jazz.

"She had a splattershot jr. So assume she came in here sometime before for a starter kit," said Ben.

"Oh, yes I know her, but I'm afraid I uh...haven't seen her, sorry," said Sheldon hiding his acknowledgment of the squid girl as he rubbed his head and gave a fake assuring smile.

"huh... why are acting weird?" asked Jazz. "Yeah, you act like you're hiding something. You sure you haven't seen here, we really need to know for our friend Flash," said Ben.

"Look I'm sorry you guys but I haven't seen her since she picked up the starter kit. All I can say is she'll turn up sometime. Now, I gotta get back to work... best of luck finding her," said Sheldon as he walked away.

The two of them looked at each other and made their way out of the store. "I wonder what that was all about?" asked Jazz. "I don't know, but Sheldon knows something but what?" asked Ben.

"Well those sense in sticking around, let's just head to Flash's place," said Jazz as they leave the square.

Back in the shop, Sheldon was relieved the two of them had left. He hard time trying to keep his composure and didn't want Izzy's agent work revealed. He turned back to the monitors that was being fed from the drone. He soon got a radio call from Marie back at Mt. Nantai.

"Come in Sheldon," she said over the radio.

"Sheldon here, what is it Agent 2?" he asked.

"How's Blake...um, Agent 0 holding up, has he retrieved the zapfish from the octoweapons factory yet?" she asked.

"No, not yet...I've been watching his progress though and I'm impressed but he did fight in the great alongside Cuttlefish and grandpappy too. He's in the factory now but he's dealing with octo rebels," said Sheldon.

Marie remained silent for a moment as Sheldon tried to get her attention. "Agent 2...agent 2, you...still there," he asked.

"Uh...I'm still here, I just...zoned out for a moment," said Marie.

"You alright Agent 2, you haven't been yourself since those two left for Octo Canyon. It's Blake isn't it...you haven't asked about Izzy in some time. You have feelings for him don't you," said Sheldon seeing through Marie's behavior.

"I uh...NO! It's my job to check on the agents nor to mention the fate of Inkopolis is at stake! Why would you think that...he's an agent and so am I..." said Marie in defense.

"Marie...I can tell. if you like let him know and don't bottle it up," said Sheldon.

Marie got quiet again over the radio. "Marie..." responded Sheldon to her quietness again. "I...do...love him but...Callie does too," she said meekly.

"That's...an uneasy predicament, What are going to do?" asked Sheldon. "I don't know... This is bothering me, I'm not focused on the mission. I'm too stressed over the loss of Callie and worrying about Blake. I feel like I'm stuck between having to choose whether to let Blake know but hurting Callie at the same time. It...wouldn't be right," said Marie.

"I'm not sure what to say agent 2, you'll have to decide on your own what you should do," said Sheldon.

"(sigh) I'm...not sure what to do. I'm getting off just let me know anything...Agent 2 out," she said as she got off the radio.

Sheldon turned back to the monitors from the drone feed watching Blake. "Oh, boy, seems Blake in the middle of another battle. I just wish the best for the two," said Sheldon.

* * *

Izzy was hopping from platform to platform shooting octarians and going through multiple obstacles. She managed to splat more octotroopers and octocopters before getting to another riderail at the end of her path. Searchlights were focused on her and more octarians poured out of the power station to try and neutralize the inkling agent. She was heavily outnumbered and was running low on ink not having a chance to refill her tank.

"Sheldon, I'm in trouble here, what do I do!?" asked Izzy frantically. Just then her squidwatch lit up. "Huh?" she replied baffled looking at the watch.

"Your special has been activated, press the watch and use it!" exclaimed Sheldon.

Izzy mashed the watch as she reached the end of the riderail on another platform. Her tentacles had a yellow flame envelope them as a glowing aura formed around her body. She felt empowered and was stunned at was happening. "JUmp up and land toward those octarians below you!" shouted Sheldon. Izzy did what the horseshoe crab said and landed down on the octarian in a large burst of ink, splatting all the octarians around her.

"WHOA! AWESOME!" cheered Izzy as the effects of the special went away. "What the squid was that!" exclaimed Izzy.

"That's called Splashdown! Blake has the same special and has already used it. It comes in handy for large groups of enemies," said Sheldon.

"He does, cool! " said Izzy. The remaining octarians screamed and ran from the sight of the inkling girl's attack. They fled back inside the power station and locked the door behind them. She ran over and couldn't get the doors to budge. "Use the riderail on your right, it should take toward the top of the power station and get you inside," said Sheldon.

Izzy looked and saw another dispenser. She shot it and a stream of ink shot out and formed a rail around the power station. She hopped on and slid up the rail. "Izzy watch out for those transformers!" shouted Sheldon as he spotted electric transformers shooting sparks on top of the ink rail. "Jump over the spark so you don't get shocked and fall off the rail," commanded Sheldon.

As Izzy got close to the transformer it's electrical current covered causing it to shoot a spark on top of the riderail. Izzy jumped and evaded the electrifying current. There were multiple transformers alongside the rail and Izzy managed to get by all of them before reaching the end of the rail. She hopped off onto a balcony on top of the power station. She turned and looked through a large opening in the roof of the station and looked down.

She saw a large open area with no octarians in sight. The inkling girl looked around and spotted a zapfish in the middle of the large chamber below, before dropping down onto what looked like some kind of arena. It was lined with pipes, fluorescent lights, and signs. Izzy scanned the area for anymore octarians and made her way toward the zapfish. As she did a deep loud voice echoed through the chamber. It laughed before it decided to talk as it sent shivers down Izzy's back.

"So...you're the little inkstain that's been splatting my troops and taking our power eggs. Well...I'm sorry to announce that your little escapade ends here squid. I'll make sure you end up a large ink puddle in the middle of this chamber. So be ready and fight me if you dare. Because I splat with honor, you wretched little squid," said the deep gargled voice.

Soon purple ink surrounded the zapfish and a large tentacle popped out of the ink and grabbed the zapfish, pulling it in. Soon a bright light emanated out of the ink and a large figure rose out of it wielding a giant roller. It swung the roller down and gave a gargled roar. The figure was a bloated octarian sporting a black jacket with its tentacle tied into a large ponytail. It also sat on a unicycle and glared at the little inkling girl.

"W...W...Who are you?" asked Izzy frightened by the large octarian as she backed up.

The octarian gave a sinister grin and picked up his roller. "I'm the Octo-Samurai and this is the end of the line for you squid," he said as he prepared for battle, swinging the roller back down on the floor splashing his ink toward Izzy.

* * *

Cassie and Cuttlefish were staring at a figure that had their weapon drawn on them through the doorway of the lighthouse. The standoff was tense as Cassie and Cuttlefish did not expect anyone else to be there until the room in the lighthouse appeared to be recently used. "I wish you two wouldn't have come here," said the figure.

"Who are you?" asked Cassie who had her weapon drawn back on the figure.

The figure stepped up, exposing themselves into the light of the room. Both of them gasped at the figure that revealed their identity. It was Cleo holding up a splattershot pro. "Cleo," said a stunned Cleo slowly laying her hero shot down.

"Yes, I had hoped you two wouldn't find about this place. (sigh) But I guess you were determined," said Cleo lowing her splattershot pro.

"Why didn't you want us to find this place? What's going on?" asked Cassie.

"I was assigned by Kamabo to keep this place a secret. It leads to the deepsea metro that runs under Inkopolis," explained Cleo.

"The deepsea metro runs under Inkopolis?" said Cassie in surprise.

"Yes, it's a network of subway lines and testing stations. What I've learned is that it starts here and goes all the way to Octarian territory. It was built by humans thousands of years ago but I've only seen the entrance station where I've talked to C.Q. Cumber, I've never actually been to the other locations in the deepsea metro," said Cleo.

"You've been keeping stuff from us so far, why should we believe you now?" said Cassie sternly as she pulled her hero shot back up at Cleo.

"Lass, stand down! I believe she's telling the truth," said Cuttlefish as he placed his hand on the hero shot, lowering it down. "How do we get in?" asked Cuttlefish turning back to Cleo.

"The keycard on that desk right there," said Cleo as she pointed behind them toward the desk. Cassie turned around and grabbed the keycard. "This thing?" she asked.

"Yes, let me see it," said Cleo placing her hand out. Cassie hesitantly gave the keycard to Cleo unsure whether to trust her.

The three of them walk out of the room and back to the center of the lighthouse. Cleo walked over to a picture in the wall and flipped it over. It revealed a card scanner on the wall with a Kamabo logo on it. Cleo ran the card through the scanner, followed by a beeping noise as red light soon turned to green. "Access granted," said the scanner as the floor below them opened up revealing a staircase that led down below.

Cleo started to walk down the steps and turned back to Cassie and Cuttlefish. "You two coming?" asked Cleo. The two looked at each and then back to Cleo. They soon followed her down. The floor closed up behind them and they followed the stairs down until they reached the deepsea metro. The three of them walked down a tiled corridor that headed to the main subway station. Cassie and Cuttlefish looked around in amazement, never figuring that an underground subway network existed.

"So this is the Deepsea Metro," said Cassie in astonishment. She and Cuttlefish were perplexed by the station, it was large and they never thought it would run under Inkopolis. Cleo walked through the station gate followed by Cassie and Cuttlefish. Cleo sat down on a nearby bench and crossed her legs. "So what do we do now?" asked Cassie who walked over to Cleo.

"Wait, so you might as well find a seat," said Cleo as she crossed her arms behind her head.

Cassie sat down on another bench with Cuttlefish sitting by her. The three waited for the subway to arrive at the station. Cassie and Cuttlefish were eager to get answers and find out who this Kamabo company was. The station remained quiet as the three of them patiently waited for the arrival of the subway that was being conducted by C.Q. Cumber.

* * *

Back at Pygmy Mansion, Marina was in her secret lab typing on her laptop, going over research. Unable to get online with the grid down from the missing zapfish, this gave her ample time to catch up on her 'hobby'. Once an engineer in the octarian army before Octavio's defeat and the regime taking power, she couldn't let her profession go. Over the years she had put together her own personal lab without Pearl's acknowledge until months ago, unsure what her friend Marina would do that or why she's interested in stuff like that instead of staying up to date with the social network and staying 'fresh' with the latest trends.

Marina was incredibly smart and valued her work above her idol status, unlike her friend Pearl. She was focused on her laptop and for minutes had through the research she had been holding off for a week. A picture of a DNA sample pulled up on her screen. The DNA was neither inkling, octoling, or oceanic. It was a human DNA sample that Marina had stolen from the octarian researchers before she fled to the surface.

After a few minutes of scrolling and typing, she placed the data on a flash drive and hid it in her desk drawer. "There are so many missing pieces to the puzzle, just when I think I'm making a breakthrough. (sigh)" She got up and headed over to a shelf holding various items. She grabbed a canister that she took from the octarians before leaving the valley.

"What are you not telling me?" she asked herself studying the canister. She soon placed the container back on the shelf. "Right now, I need to focus on the situation at hand. I just hope the inklings don't jump to conclusions that the octarian government is behind this. It'll jeopardize the peace between them and octarians, especially if they decide to attack the valley. I gotta find a way to get a hold of Indigo Agent," said Marina.

She walked back over to her laptop and quickly opened it back. "I hope I can get in, once I do, I run the risk of compromising everything that me and Indigo Agent have been discussing but it's a risk I'm willing to take. The fate of peace is in the balance right now," said Marina.

She was frantically typing when she came across a firewall. "C'mon! (sigh)" she shouted in frustration.

"I guess with everything going on with the octo rebels and the great zapfish going missing the octarian government is putting security measures on their network. OK...(deep breath) time to bust in," she said.

After a brief moment, she got past the firewall and got inside the octarian's online network. "Phew...I'm in! Now let's see if I can find a way to get a hold of Indigo Agent before I get locked out," said Marina.

She hunted for Indigo Agent's profile to see if she was online. So far she had luck finding her. "C'mon Indigo, please be online this is of the utmost importance," she said to herself.

Marina finally spotted Indigo Agent and attempted to hack into her profile to get her to respond. Soon she answered. "Indigo attempted to block her but Marina informed her that it was her. "DJ_Hyperfresh?" the first message said. "What are doing hacking into my profile? I thought we were staying under the radar for now," messaged Indigo with annoyance.

"Sorry, Indigo Agent but this is urgent. I'm sure the octarian government is well aware of the situation of Inkopolis. I fear the inklings will retaliate and place the blame on the octarians in the valley for this. They don't know about the situation with rebels and their operations, as the octarian government has been trying to contain. Has anything been going on in the valley and if the octarians are responding to this?" asked Marina.

"Right now, what I've gathered just recently that I've been informed about the great zapfish's disappearance and the octarian government does know that the rebels are behind it. They're discussing plans on what to do and going through hypothetical scenarios if the inklings were to attempt an invasion plan. They may to go for a diplomatic approach and that's if the inkling government is willing to listen, but I'm not so sure since the inkling diplomats had never arrived to the octarian capital," said Indigo.

"I can only hope that maybe the squidbeak squad are doing something about it. They did stop Camper's gang and kept the human from getting into the hands of the octo rebels. If anyone can get the zapfish back and keep the octo rebels from starting a war it would be them," said Marina.

"I hope you're right, it would be quite a task for them to retrieve the great zapfish back from the octo rebels, not to mention fighting them on their own turf as well as their defenses. If not then war could soon brew between the races and we're back at square one again," said Indigo.

"I'm not giving up, right now I don't know what else to do except to lay low at Pearl's and continue my research project," said Marina.

"I remember you mentioning about over a month, before the discovery of that human. Have you come up with anything?" she asked Marina.

"Nothing so far, there's not enough data to conclude anything, but I'm sure that the DNA sample I took from the lab can prove something. If my theory is correct, I believe that the inklings and octarians have more in common than we think and possibly with the human as bizarre as it may sound. If this can be proven without a doubt, then this may end any wars in the future and bring a permanent between the inklings and octarians," said Marina.

"I guess bizarre would be the right word, but as far' fetched as it sounds, It may bring a permanent peace among the races but yet again I'm sure rebels could care less," said Indigo.

Soon a window popped up giving a warning to Marina. "Hey! Their trying to track us! We better cut the connection before we discovered," said Marina.

"Good idea, I'll do what I can on my end. Hope the squidbeak knows what they are getting into if they are going at the zapfish," said Indigo.

"Appreciate it, I'll let you go, DJ_Hyperfresh out," said Marina as she cut connection from Indigo before the octarians discovered what they were doing.

Marina closed her laptop and placed her hand under her chin. "That was close, I better not hack into the octarian network again. next time I might not be so lucky," said Marina. "I guess with the situation of the octo rebels the octarian government is taking measures on keeping any unauthorized persons from getting in the network, presumably the rebels. I guess for now we'll lay low and hope for the best," said Marina.

She got back up and left out of the lab to check on pearl who fell asleep on the couch. Marina leaned over behind the couch watching the bubble shrink and grow out of her nostril. She chuckled at the sight, seeing her passed out snoring. "Must be nice to not dwell on everything that's going on right now," she said. "I guess the life of a pop star but it does get my mind off the life before I met you," continued Marina.

Soon Pearl's eye slowly opened. She saw Marina's face and jumped up from surprise. "WAAAH!" she shouted as she fell on the floor. Marina covered her mouth to contain her laughter. "Rina! What's the big idea scaring me like that! What would happen if I thought you were a burglar or something!" she exclaimed rubbing her backside as she got up.

"Sorry, Pearly, I just wanted to come and check up on ya' " explained Marina still catching a disapproved look from Pearl.

"Well with no power you know the security system isn't going to be working. We have enough problems dealing with the paparazzi...what have you been doing in that lab of yours anyway?" asked Pearl.

"Just catching up on some research is all. We've been spectating and going places lately and with the power outage, it just gives me time to catch up on my personal stuff. You should try to find a hobby or something, Pearl," suggested Marina.

"I got enough hobbies, homie. As soon as the electricity comes back on," said Pearl as she crossed her arms.

"How about something doesn't acquire electricity. You know reading, constructing things, going camper or..." said Marina but got interrupted. "Hey! Yo! I find something to do with the great zapfish powering the city like uh...umm...quit looking at me like that! I can come up with something, geez Rina!" shouted Pearl as she walked away. "I'm getting yo! I can't think with an empty stomach!" she said as she headed to the kitchen.

Marina gave a sigh and shook her head. "Pearly, Pearly, what am I ever goin' to do with you...I just hope things get better between our races," said Marina as she walked off.

* * *

At the Inkopolis Defense Force Headquarters one older inkling with orange tentacles sporting a parka jacket with boots and wearing a beret on his head sitting at his desk going through paperwork, after a while he sat up and slammed his hands on top of the desk. "As if I needed more paperwork, I'm already swamped as it is. The Inkling Council is now breathing down my neck as to what about the octarian threat. I'm well aware of the situation and I don't need some lame-brained politicians telling me what I should do," he said in frustration. He leaned back against his chair and pinched the top of his nose. He turned to the window behind him looking out seeing the skyline of Inkopolis. He gives a deep breath and a knock on his door gets his attention.

"Come in," said the inkling.

"Commander Armie," asked a female inkling with cyan tentacles also sporting a beret.

"Yes, what is it, Captain?" said Commander Armie as she approached him.

"Sir, what are your orders, the inkling council is waiting for the IDF to react to the octarians violation of the peace treaty.

Commander Armie growled and turned back to the window. He had his eyes closed and gave a deep breath. "We'll mobilize the troops and place a blockade around the Octarian territory. For now, I'm waiting for a call back from our diplomats that have been trying to get in contact with the new Octarian government. As far as I'm concerned we're on standby until further orders. I say we attack the octarians before they launch an offensive as vulnerable as we are. I should have known the peace treaty was too good to be true. It's allowed us to be caught off guard and we should've known better to trust the octarians," said Commander Armie.

He turned back around to face the captain. "They will not rest until Inkopolis is under their rule and I will not rest until the octarian menace is finally dealt with. This is the final straw for them and they will feel the full force of the IDF. You have your orders, captain," continued the commander.

"Yes, Commander, I'll assemble the troops and prepare the navy to place a blockade around the octarian territory. Does this mean war has been declared, sir?" asked the captain.

"We're very close to that point," said the commander as he downed his head. "The diplomats have 24 hours to hear a response from the octarians or we move in on the octarian territory, if it were me, I would just plan the attack now. The octarians are and will always be our enemies, now you're dismissed," said the commander.

"right away, sir," said the captain as she saluted.

Commander Armie looked back at the paperwork in frustration as he moaned. "I miss the good ole' days of a simple yay or nay. Now you have to swim requisition forms to get anything done around here. It is what it is I suppose," he said before pulling out a flask of unknown contents, presumably hard liquor. He took a quick swig and placed it back in his desk drawer.

Meantime, the captain had traveled to the command center to rally up the inkling troops. There she met up an inkling named Miles. He was dark complected inkling with orange tentacles sporting a parka, boots, and a beret like the commander and the captain. He was a battle planner for the Inkopolis Defense Force and coordinator. "Captain Finn, what's the SITREP?" he asked.

"The commander is still waiting to hear back from the inkling diplomats. Frustrated is an understatement and the inkling council isn't helping matters. I just hope things get situated soon but He's authorized the navy to mobilize and form a blockade around the octarian territory as a show of force. Doubt they'll respond to it and give up the zapfish that easily. I say inkstrike the entire valley," said the captain.

"Well, you know the council. One minute, attack the octarians, the next don't attack and see if we work out negotiations. I was hoping that would adhere to the treaty conditions. We gave them enough zapfish and even allowed to come to Inkopolis for visitation and even trading for food and supplies. What more do they want? I just hope my wife and Ben, will be ok," said Miles.

"As the commander said, I guess it wasn't enough. Greedy octopi want the whole city. I just hope we don't wait around too long for the octarians to mobilize their troops and attack the mainland. Politics, you gotta love it," said the captain.

"Well, I'm not. I just hope the commander doesn't too overwhelmed by the bureaucracy. He's got enough on his plate as it is. Anyway, we'll ready the navy with the blockade orders. I just hope it's enough to make the octarians rethink what they've done. Going to war is the last thing war the last thing we need being we haven't been in one since the great turf war a hundred years ago," said Miles.

"Yeah, we're not exactly in shape for another war. We're outnumbered and outgunned by the octarian forces. I just hope the octarians don't think that as well, that we're just some squishy squid they can just run over. We have to play this carefully and show the octarians we mean business but if it comes down to an all-out war so be it. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Just be prepared to bring a floatie when we fall in the water," said Captain Finn.

"That's reassuring but I guess we gotta be realistic. Hope we can protect Inkopolis before it's too late," said Miles.


	58. Arc 3 Chapter 12

**Arc 3 Chapter 12**

In the octoweapons factory, Blake seemed to have cleared the first conveyor belt he was on after defeating the octostamps that attempted to subdue him. The way looked clear but that soon proved wrong. The conveyor he was on dropped to another conveyor. Up ahead were more octotroopers operating what looked like giant hammers smashing down on the conveyor, leaving a splatter of ink behind. The octotroopers soon spotted him and started shooting ink towards him. Now dealing with the threat of not only the large ink mallets but now the octotrooper operators as well.

"Splat that fossil!" shouted a twintacle overseer on a hovering platform off to the side.

Blake was having a hard time evading the ink and worrying about getting flattened by the ink mallets that were getting closer. He dodged another shot of ink and splatted the octotrooper off his station. He saw the mallet swing back and quickly rushed under it before it fell back down. Another octotrooper shot at Blake ahead and like before he dodged the ink by rolling forward and lining a shot on the tentacle before killing it as well. The mallet swung up and landed down after Blake ran under it.

"Talk about an obstacle course," said Blake as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. The twintacle was stomping up and down on his platform until he decided to jump on the conveyor belt with an octo roller around one of its tentacles. It landed down and swung at Blake. "Hold still fossil!" It shouted in frustration. Blake avoided the roller swings and given the opportunity he kicked the twintacle over, losing its grasp of the octo roller that fell off the conveyor.

It sat up and stared at Blake who had his hero shot pointed at it. "you think you've beaten me human, you'll never defeat the octo rebels. We will reign supreme over those stupid inklings and take over the surface. Vengeance is ours human, so give up while you..." rambled the twintacle before Blake shot and splattered the octarian where it sat. Blake just rolled his eyes, not taking the threats seriously.

"Blah...Blah...Blah...like I've never heard that before. Do these guys get their same evil villain quotes from a cereal box or something? Sheesh..." said Blake as he continued on but running footsteps behind him stopped him in his tracks. He quickly turns around and aims the hero shot behind him only for it to be knocked from his hands. The assailant delivers a roundhouse kick to Blake, dealing a bruise to his face. He sits up from the powerful kick, rubbing his face until he looks up and sees an elite glaring at him with a bruise on her face as well. It was the one he defeated back in the room full of sardinium.

"Miss me?" she asked sarcastically.

"Hardly (coughing)" he shot back.

"Wanted to return the favor," she said pointing at the bruise on her face.

"How about another one," said Blake as he took a swipe at the elite. She evaded the punch and grabbed his arm. She picked him up and flung him across the conveyor. He sat back up, on his knees facing the floor. The elite smirked and got into a fight stance. "I thought you were tough, human. You've made it this far but I'm afraid to say... this is as far as you go. You got guts, I'll give you that. Now give me a real fight," jeered the elite.

Blake gritted his teeth and rose up getting into his own fighting stance. "I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass," said Blake.

The elite chuckled at Blake with a devious grin. "Tough talk but it's your ass I'm going to be kicking," said the elite. She charged at Blake and jumped into the air to land a flying kick but Blake moved out of the way. Blake took a swing at the elite like before but she evaded the punch. "That move again, too predictable fossil," she sneered as she grabbed Blake's arm but Blake saw this and countered her by grabbing her arm and throwing her before she could throw him. "Now, who's being predictable," said Blake.

The elite landed on her feet though and looked back at Blake. 'Not bad...but you're just prolonging the inevitable. Surrender while you still can and you may get spared," said the elite.

"Not happening," jeered Blake.

"Very well, it's time for you to stay down...permanently!" shouted the elite.

The octoling charged at Blake who evaded the first punch of the elite and blocked his face with his arms up. He exchanged a punch toward the elite who had octo formed to dodge the attack and swam between Blake's legs and changed forms once she was behind him. "Too slow, fossil," she sneered in an attempt to grab him from behind but Blake elbowed her in the face, landing her another bruise.

"Told ya, I would be giving you another one," said Blake as she covered her eye. She growled at Blake and clenched her fist. "I'm not going easy on you anymore!" she shouted angrily. Blake heard a noise behind him, ahead of the conveyor belt were ink pistons expanding out across the conveyor. Not paying attention to the elite she dove at Blake and at the last second he jumped out of the way.

She growled missing him as he backed away only for himself to get closer to the ink piston. "Looks like you're trapped," she sneered. Blake adjusted himself and turned back to the smug octoling. She octo formed closing the gap between the two of them and moved in to finish Blake off. She tackled him, shoving him back towards the ink piston but he managed to stop himself from hitting it. "Give it up fossil! You're in a losing battle and you're running out of room," she said.

She closed in on him eager to defeat Blake once and for all. "I'm not going down that easily," shouted Blake. She bared her fangs at him in another attempt to tackle him in octo form but Blake landed a kick to the little octopus just as she got close enough to him and she flew back, landing on her back dazed. Blake walked over to her to see if she was finally incapacitated or not. He picked up the hero shot that was laying nearby and aimed at the elite as she opened her eyes. "Looks like you're the one that lost," said Blake before he heard a loud shot go off followed by a stream of ink that struck him in the torso.

Blake gave a loud yelp and flew back from an octosniper perched on a platform overlooking the conveyor. A lucky save for the elite that slowly got up and took advantage of the situation. Blake's hero shot was dropped beside him. incapacitated himself, he moaned from the hit and slowly blinked his eyes. The tables had turned as it was now the octoling standing over him with her knife drawn. "Well fossil...you've proven to be a great adversary, you've even gotten me aroused but it ends here. It's time for you to die whether you're needed for our plans or not!" she shouted. She pounced on Blake with the knife drove down. Blake managed to grab the wrists of the octoling as she applied more and more pressure onto the knife as it got closer and closer to Blake.

Blake was struggling to keep the tip of the blade away from him. The octoling was a lot stronger than he thought and he was losing strength to keep it away from him. The tip made contact as Blake cried in pain as the knife finally got driven into him. Blake screamed and lost his strength to the octoling who gave a sinister grin seeing the human bleed from the blade. He shut his eyes and gave his last breath. The octoling slowly stood up with a smug expression seeing she had finally ended the human. After a moment she gave a slight chuckle and a tear ran down her face. Her expression then changed to that from content to serious if not slight remorse even. She stared down at Blake seeing him unresponsive.

She kneeled over him, examining his body. "It's a real shame... you would have made a fine addition to our army...too bad we had to settle for that pathetic excuse of an inkling. She was crying about seeing you and that other inkling again. All I could do was laugh, she struggled to accept her situation but soon her will was broken and she'll never remember you and that other inkstain again," she said over Blake's body.

Those worlds enraged Blake and he clenched his fists as his eyes popped open. He quickly grabbed the elite who was stunned by his revival. Blake stared coldly at the elite as he picked her up. Baring his teeth with malicious intent, he was now, face to face with the frightened octoling. NO ONE HURTS CALLIE AND TAKES HER AWAY FROM HER FRIENDS AND FAMILY YOU PIECE OF OCTOPUS SHIT! I'LL SEE THAT YOU, THE REBELS, AND OCTAVIO ARE STOPPED! MARK MY WORDS!" he shouted. He grabbed her in the back of the head and drove her into the ink piston that was behind him. The ink didn't splatter the octoling but the force of the piston did. She screamed before splatting into a puddle of ink as her ghost floated away.

Blake fell on his knees as that last bit of anger and adrenaline drained his energy and pulled the knife out of his torso and tossed it off the conveyor. He was bleeding profusely and fell down onto the belt. He was slowly passing out from the wound and fell off the end of the conveyor and onto a loading bay on the floor. Jeering in pain and lying on his stomach, he looked up and saw the zapfish powering the machinery inside the orb it was placed in. He tried to crawl toward it and reached his arm out, but he finally collapsed and succumbed to his wound. "I'm...sorry...Callie..." he mumbled weakly before blacking out.

"Oh no...oh no! OH NO! Blake! Respond! BLAKE! This isn't good!" shouted Sheldon seeing Blake lying motionless on the floor inside weapons factory from his drone feed.

"Agent 2! Come in! This is an emergency! It's Blake he's down!" shouted Sheldon over the radio.

"What! Clarify!" shouted Marie.

"Blake's unresponsive! He had got into a tussle with an elite inside the factory, he's badly wounded and bleeding! If we don't do something he could die!" panicked Sheldon.

"No...Blake...Sheldon! Is that truck ready that you've been working on for me and Cal ready yet?" she asked.

"Yes, it is, why?" asked Sheldon who was a little baffled.

"No time to explain! Just pick me up at Mt. Nantai! We're going to bring Blake back!" she shouted.

"You got it!" shouted Sheldon as he scurried deeper into the back of his shop. He went inside a garage and opened the slide doors revealing a large truck that was going to be used for the squid sister's live performances. "I hope I can start this thing up, it's been a while," said Sheldon as he hopped into the cab.

Back at Mt. Nanatai, Marie was changing into her field uniform inside the shack. Once she was dressed she pulled out her hero charger from inside a case and walked out, waiting for Sheldon to arrive. "C'mon Sheldon," she said to herself. She gave a sigh and turned to the canyon and looked. "Blake, hang on...we're coming," she said as she held up her hero charger with a concerned expression on her face.

* * *

An hour earlier, Izzy was staring down the Octo-Samurai as he was holding up a giant roller ready for her to make a move. "Agent 4, Be careful, this guy may be fat but he's no pushover. He's the leader of the octarian forces and was Octavio's most formidable warrior," said Marie.

"Pfff...I can take him, he looks stupid riding that tiny unicycle like a clown," said Izzy with false courage.

"CLOWN!" yelled the enraged Octo-Samurai as he slammed his roller down hard and gave a gargled roar.

"You'll pay dearly, for your disrespect, Inkstain! Prepare for a beat down!" sneered the angry octarian.

"Agent 4! waste that clown!" shouted Marie.

Izzy rushed toward the giant octarian and shot at him covering him with ink. Unfortunately, he wasn't phased by it! "What the!" shouted a stunned Izzy.

"Is that it squid? Is that the best you got!" shouted the Octo-Samurai as he smiled maliciously.

Izzy backed up, full of fear as she the attacks didn't do anything to the giant octarian. "My turn!" shouted the Octo-Samurai.

She was face to face with the Octo-Samurai who was swinging his giant roller down toward the little inkling agent. She jumped out of the way and shot at the hulking octarian. He twirled the roller in front of him to deflect the agent's ink shots and slammed the roller down again. "You'll have to do better than that squid!" sneered the octarian.

Izzy now in a full panic was unsure how to defeat the Octo-Samurai as she fleed to get away as the octo-samurai moved in on Izzy pedaling his tiny unicycle under him. He slammed the roller down again and Izzy jumped out of the way. "At least I can avoid those slow roller slams!" exclaimed Izzy.

"Slow am I, I'll show you how slow I can be!" shouted the annoyed Octo-Samurai.

The Octo-Samurai held up his giant roller and it transformed into a motorized scooter with the handle of the roller turning into the handle of a bike. The Octo-Samuari revved up the motorized contraption and sped toward the agent with speed inking a path behind him. Izzy barely had enough time to get out of the way.

"That's the latest in octarian technology! An Octocycle!" shouted Sheldon through Izzy's headset.

"That's utterly ridiculous!" exclaimed Marie.

"Oh C'mon" shouted an exasperated Izzy. "Sheldon what do I do?!" asked Izzy panicking.

The octocycle transformed back to the giant roller and the Octo-Samurai locked his eyes back on Izzy. "Just keep avoiding his attacks, I might have something you can use," exclaimed Sheldon.

"Make this easy on yourself inkling and accept your defeat," said the Octo-Samurai.

Izzy aimed her hero shot back at the Octo-Samurai and he just chuckled. "That's not gonna work, squirt," said the towering octarian. He held up his giant roller and prepared to deflect any attack she would dish out on the chubby creature.

"Izzy! I'm sending you the Hero Roller, prepare for an airdrop!" shouted Sheldon.

"Not gonna attack? Then let me!" shouted the Octo-Samurai as he raised his roller and it transformed into the octocycle again. He drove toward Izzy as she saw Sheldon's case drop out of the sky and land in the center of the arena. She squid formed and slithered away from the Octo-Samurai as he was gaining speed. She transformed back and ran toward the case. The Octo-Samurai missed her and stopped. His roller changed back and he turned toward her direction.

Izzy opened the case and saw the Hero Roller inside and picked it up. "Sheldon! I've never used a roller before!" exclaimed Izzy as she panicked.

"It's quite simple, lay the roller on the ground and ink a trail behind you while charging at your enemy to do like that fatso does and swing it throwing ink onto your opponent, you can also flail and hit that guy with the roller as well coating him in your ink," explained Sheldon.

"OK, here goes nothing," said Izzy as she looked back at the octarian.

"Roller vs Roller huh, An honorable match I say inkling but I caution you, that you will not make it out of this arena alive," said the Octo-Samurai as he picked his roller up.

Izzy laid the hero roller down and charged at the Octo-Samurai as soon as she got close enough and swung her roller at him causing ink to splash on him. She did this a couple of more times and she could tell the Octo-Samurai was feeling it. "Ugghh...Impotent squid! I'll turn you into an ink puddle!" shouted the angry octarian. He swung his roller toward Izzy and she jumped out of the way. In mid-air, she swung her roller down on the fat octarian and was froze in place. She splatted him leaving behind his brush as his ghost floated away.

"I did it!" shouted Izzy as she jumped up in the air with her roller.

"Well done, squid, you do fight with honor," said the Octo-Samurai's ghost as it drifted above the arena before finally vanishing.

Izzy looked up and watched the ghost disappear. It left behind his roller with a zapfish coming out of it. Izzy rushed over grabbed it with power eggs surrounding it. She collected them and the zapfish.

"Great job Izzy, I knew you could do it!" exclaimed Sheldon.

"Outstanding! Agent 4! Now that you have the zapfish, you can go ahead and move to the next area. Head out of the power station and toward the tea kettle at the other side of the dome. I'll give you further instructions once you get there," said Marie.

"Alright, but I'm starting to get hungry," said Izzy as her stomach growled.

"I'll see if Sheldon can deliver you some food," said Marie.

"Ohhh...K..." said Izzy with slight irritation. She squid jumped and headed off to the tea kettle as Marie told her to do.

"Aren't you pushing her a little too much, Marie," asked Sheldon.

"She'll be fine, I just hope we can find Callie soon and get the great zapfish back before Octavio tries anything," said Marie.

"Yeah but she deserves a break, she has been going non-stop as well as Blake," said Sheldon.

"Speaking of Blake, How's he progressing, has he gotten the zapfish yet?" she asked.

"Well he's in the octoweapons factory so I'm having trouble seeing him right now," said Sheldon. "Even the reception on his headset is losing signal," Sheldon continued.

"I just hope he's doing ok," said Marie with concern.

"(sigh) You know you'll have to tell him sooner or later," said Sheldon.

"I know that," said Marie.

"Well, I'm heading back to tinkering and doing something with all these power eggs Izzy collected, after that I'll see if I can spot Blake," said Sheldon as he got off the radio.

Marie left her station and headed back inside the shack to fix some tea. Still worrying about Blake and thinking about when would be a good time to tell Blake how she felt toward him. She took a sip and gave deep sigh. "I feel as I'm between a rock and a hard place. I love Blake but to go behind Callie's back while she's been captured, knowing she loves him too...Marie concentrate, I can't let this get to me and I can't do that to poor Callie. My hearts are split between the two of them. I wish gramps were here for me to talk to," said Marie as she gave another sip of tea.

* * *

Melvin was still being held at the rebel's stronghold deep in octo canyon. He was sitting against the wall with his knees up and his face buried in them when all of a sudden his cell door opened. A male octoling walked in and looked down at Melvin who then looked up at the octoling. Melvin saw that it was Obi and all he could see was red as he attempted to lunge at his old teammate but Obi punched him knocking him back to the floor.

"Is that any way to greet an old friend?" asked Obi snidely.

"Friend! You're a traitor and a coward you piece of crap!" shouted Melvin as he sat up rubbing his jaw from the punch.

"Hmpf... I'm the coward? You and those octopi back at Octo Valley are the real cowards! Those turncoats swayed to those squids and sold out our leader in order to keep the domes powered," said Obi.

"Octavio means to keep you and the rest of us down. He has since we were banished in those accursed domes. We could have chosen to make amends with the inklings and emerged back onto the surface but Octavio chose to stay and feed his ego. He dragged us all down with him knowing damn well we wouldn't have been able to keep the domes powered for much longer and we suffered because of it," snapped Melvin glaring back at Obi.

"You're willing to blame all this on Octavio, Those squids are the ones that caused our suffering. For far too long we have been at the mercy of the inklings but soon the shadows of their past will catch up with them and they all will pay for keeping us down in these wretched underground prisons," sneered Obi baring his fangs.

"Why would you turn us! Your team! And what have you done with Serena and the sergeant?!" exclaimed an angry Melvin clutching his fists.

"Oh don't you worry about your little friend. She's become a new addition to our army and is now committed to our cause and as for that sergeant she's being used as bait for that human agent that's been nosing around," explained Obi.

Serena would never join forces with you and those terrorists!" snapped Melvin.

"Oh, once we've "convinced" her. she saw the error of her ways and opened her eyes to the truth," said Obi with a grin. Melvin growled at what his old teammate had said and wanted to beat the octoling to an ink puddle.

"Now...down to matters why I'm really here, I want a mole inside Octo Valley watching the movements of those spineless turncoats and you're going to be my little spy," said Obi.

"I'll never do your bidding, why don't you just kill me right here," touted Melvin.

"As tempting as that is, I hate to admit that I need you and you're going to do as you are told whether you want to or not," replied Obi.

"Screw You!" shouted Melvin in protest.

"Hmpf...resist if you will, like your friend, you'll have no choice...get him to the octozeppelin bay!" commanded Obi to the guards behind him. They nodded and restrained Melvin as they guided him out of the cell.

The group made it to the bay and headed over to an octoseeker that was ready to take off. They stopped before getting on the aircraft. Obi turned to the guards holding Melvin and his former teammate. "Ready for your assignment?" asked Obi snidely. Melvin just shot Obi a glare and bared his fangs at him. "I'll take that as a yes," said Obi.

"Once onboard, you'll be "initiated" and briefed on your assignment. I need not expect you to fail for the rebels and Octavio," said Obi. He turned around and signaled to load up into the aircraft.

"Move it!" ordered one of the guards as they shoved Melvin forward.

Once they were inside, Melvin was forced onto the bench, secured by the two guards. The octoseeker took off and headed toward the valley border where Melvin would be dropped off. "Once we've reached the border, you'll offload and make your way toward the valley and explain to them that your team was killed and that you escaped to flee back to your base," said Obi.

"What make's you believe I'll still go along with your plan?" asked Melvin, dispising the situation he was in.

"Oh you will," responded Obi.

"Hand me the goggles," ordered Obi as one of the octolings handed him one of the new goggles that would brainwash Melvin like it did on Serena. "Now hold our new recruit!" ordered Obi as the guards grabbed Melvin. Melvin struggled and tried to move his head around to avoid the goggles from being placed on his face. One of the guards punched Obi in the jaw to make him still. The goggles were just about over his eyes when he jarred up and kicked Obi away, causing the goggles to fly out of his hands.

Melvin headbutted one of the octoling guards, knocking her off the bench while the other bashed him in the head with her octoshot. "Oh no, you don't!" she shouted as she struck him.

The hit momentarily dazed Melvin for a few seconds until he came to his senses. he kicked the octoshot out of the guard's hands and shoved her into Obi who had just got back up. The two of them hit the wall inside the octoseeker. The tussle startled the twintacle piloting the craft and the last octoling attempted to subdue Melvin but stumbled from the craft jerking around. Melvin kicked her in the face, knocking her back toward the front, landing just behind the twintacle. All the octolings were incapacitated, except Obi who was crawling from under the guard laying on him. He shoved her off and set his sights on Melvin who was still tied but capable of fighting.

"Relentless bastard! I guess I'll have to kill you after all!" shouted Obi who pulled his knife out.

Melvin was at a disadvantage as his hands were still tied. Obi lunged at him diving the knife toward him. Melvin used his hands to try and halter the attack but the blade was slowly drawing closer. "Give it up! You, the squids, and those valley traitors are finished!" jeered Obi applying more force on the knife. Melvin looked over and saw the octoshot laying on the floor but unsure how he would reach it without getting stabbed by the knife.

He twisted his arms causing the blade to get knocked out of Obi's hands and put the defected octoling in a bind. Melvin leaned forward and headbutted Obi causing him to yelp and jerk back. Melvin rushed over to the octoshot with Melvin holding his head from the impact. Melvin grabbed the octoshot and aimed it at Obi who rushed him dodging the first shot. He grabbed and struggled, trying to disarm Melvin who was pulling the trigger and firing wildly inside the octoseeker. The Twintacle panicked causing the craft to jerk around more erratically.

As the two of them were fighting over the weapon, Melvin accidentally shot the pilot causing the craft to lose control. The octoseeker was spinning out of control and heading toward the canyon below. The two octolings were flying around the inside of the wild aircraft until Obi was knocked out with a piece of debris hitting him in the face. The octoseeker finally crashed in the canyon.

When the dust cleared it revealed the wreckage of the downed craft. Fire was pouring out of the cockpit and smoke was filling the inside of the octoseeker. Was this the end of Melvin or did the vigilant octoling survive the crash? The back hatch opened revealing a figure stumbling out and falling over at the bottom of the hatch and onto the ground. Exhausted from the fight that caused the aircraft to crash into the canyon putting an end to their evil plot to spy on the octarians in the valley.

* * *

It was getting late as the screens of the dome displayed a sunset sky. Marie and Sheldon spotted the octoweapons factory as they were riding in the truck, but instead of on the road the truck was flying due to the tires transforming into jet boosters allowing the two of them to quickly dispatch to the site where Blake was last seen. No air threats signaled an easy retrieval without any hindrance. The truck slowly landed on the roof of the factory and Marie quickly hopped out of the truck and toward a skylight above the assembly floor. She looked around through the scope of her hero charger for any threats. She spotted an octosniper on a balcony scanning the assembly floor then she spotted Blake lying the floor unresponsive. "There he is, I just hope I'm not too late," said Marie.

She aimed her hero charger at the octosniper without getting spotted. She shot and splattered it so it wouldn't alarm the factory.

"Sheldon! Stay here and guard the truck. I spotted Blake," she said as Sheldon nodded.

Marie hopped down a catwalk just below the skylight. She traversed down the suspended walkway until she had reached a staircase going down to the floor level. She rushed over to the other end where Blake was and ran over to him. The inkling agent kneeled down to check on him. "Blake! Blake! Wake up!" she said shaking him. He mumbled and groaned from the movement. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Marie over him with distress.

M...Mar...ie...what...are you doing here?" he asked weakly.

"I'm here to get you out. Me and Sheldon saw you on the drone feed. We're taking you back to Mt. Nantai," explained Marie.

"What about...the zapfish..." he continued.

"Don't worry about that, I'm focused on bringing you back to get treated," said Marie. Blake slowly closed his eyes and became unresponsive again.

"Blake! Hang in there! You're not dying on my watch, you hear me!" exclaimed Marie but he didn't answer. "I gotta get him outta here fast," she said to herself. She looked back over at the zapfish and saw that it was unguarded. She turned to Blake's body and was conflicted on either or not to retrieve the zapfish then save Blake or vice versa. Either way, she knew this was their only chance to retrieve the zapfish, but Blake's life was on the line. She gave a deep breath and made her decision. "Blake, I'll be right back, I know how strong you are but I gotta get the zapfish," said Marie.

She had reached the zapfish without incident and turned off the orb around it. She then grabbed it causing the alarms to go off. "Oh carp! Sheldon! Prepare to leave! I found Blake and I got the zapfish!" she shouted over the headset.

"You got it! I'll drop the ladder once you're below the skylight," responded Sheldon.

She ran back to Blake as octotroopers and octocopters entered the assembly floor and shot at her. She squid formed to evade their fire until she had finally reached Blake's body. The octotroopers closed in and Marie knew she wouldn't be able to handle Blake while she took fire from the octarians. She sniped one octotrooper and soon another but they were still pushing toward her direction. She saw an octostomp hull above the pathway of the octarians, being chained up on a hoist. She contemplated how to stop them and shot two of the chains with her hero charger causing them to snap, causing the octostomp hull to fall below causing it to smash the octotroopers under it and impede the rest behind them.

"Alright, time to move. Sheldon drop the ladder down!" she ordered. Sheldon swung the rope ladder over and it dropped beside Marie and Blake. She picked Blake up and carried him over her shoulder, showing what great strength inklings possessed then picked up the zapfish with her foot. Slowly climbing up the ladder with Blake over her shoulder and zapfish under her shoulder. she made her way back up on the roof as she took fire. "Sheldon! Get Blake in the cab! Hurry!" she shouted.

"OK!" he replied dragging Blake back to the truck. Octocopters were headed toward Marie who was picking them off before they could reach the skylight. When she downed the last octocopter she headed to the truck with Blake and Sheldon onboard. "Sheldon! Get us out of here!" she commanded.

"Hold on!" he shouted as the truck lifted up and he floored the pedal causing it to jettison away from the octoweapons factory before the octo rebels could react. They headed back to Mt. Nantai as it was getting dark. Blake was unconscious sitting between Marie and Sheldon inside the cab of the flying truck. Marie was deeply concerned hoping she would be able to save Blake in time once they got back to Mt. Nantai.

It had been almost an hour when they finally made it back. It was finally dark with a full moon lit sky. Blake was laying inside Marie's shack, while she and Sheldon had discussed what to do next. "Thanks again Sheldon for all your help," said Marie.

"Think nothing of it, I just hope Blake will be OK," he said.

"I hope so too, I'm worried about him as much as I'm worried about Callie. (sigh) Go ahead and head back to the shop and don't forget to take the zapfish with you," she said.

"Alright, just let me know when Blake gets back on his feet," said Sheldon as he picked up the zapfish and climbed aboard the truck. He waved as he left out of the canyon and back toward Inkopolis. Marie then set her sights back at the shack where Blake was laying. She had treated him 10 minutes ago before she had talked with Sheldon. Blake needed much rest before he would go back into the canyon, but seeing Blake almost die filled Marie with conflicting remorse. She headed to a small shed across the yard where she changed out of her agent gear and back into her kimono.

She walked back over to the shack with the door still slid open and sat down with her back turned against Blake. She gave a deep sigh and looked up at the sky. "I lose Callie and now I've almost lost Blake. I...never asked to take charge of the squidbeak squad...Gramps...I wish you were here to give me some guidance. Her eyes started to tear up as she downed her head filled with grief over the events that had transpired recently.

The human hearing whimpering outside the shack, caused him to stir and open his eyes. He turned over and saw Marie covering her face, trying to cover up her sadness. "Marie..." he said meekly. She jarred and broke from her crying to turn around and see Blake awake and staring at her. "Are...you crying?" he asked seeing the squid sister that often kept her cool during the toughest situations.

She sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. She meekly nodded and looked back at the human. "It's...too much to bear...losing Callie...almost losing you, I'm a better leader than this. I've never felt so much regret in my life," said Marie.

"It's...not your fault Marie. It comes with the job. Don't blame yourself for what's happened. (coughing)" said Blake trying to reason with Marie. He started to get up but jeered in pain from the wound. His shirt was taken off revealing his bare torso wrapped by bandaging. Marie quickly walked over and stopped him before he would hurt himself.

"Blake that's nice of you to try and make me feel better but (sigh) me and Callie have never been separated, not like this anyway. She's a sister I've never had. Gramps isn't here to talk to me and you could've..." said Marie as she started to tear up but Blake got her attention.

"Marie...you're a great leader, You've been keeping an eye on me and Izzy since we went into Octo Canyon. Heck if it wasn't for you and Sheldon, I would've joined the rest of my race. You're diligent, smart and..." said Blake as he froze in his words.

"...and what?" asked Marie anxiously as she blushed. Blake held the rest of his words in. "You and Callie have been like family to me. I'm not sure how I could ever repay you guys. Being the last human left assuming I might ever see my family again, you guys have made me feel like I had a good reason to be frozen in that pod. I'm glad I met you and Callie and everyone else. I'm proud to call you my friends and even family, even though mine are probably dead," said Blake with slight sadness at the end.

Marie bit her lip and knew she had to tell Blake how she felt about him, being the right time and with Callie not present. "Blake! Don't give up hope! I'm sure they're out there somewhere waiting for you and if not...me, Cal, and gramps are here for you. I've...been wanting to tell you something for quite some time. Ever since we met you've been so... brave and selfless. You've shown how valiant a squidbeak agent is supposed to be. I wasn't so sure about you when we first met until gramps spoke highly of you. I watched Callie fall for you and I was a little critical at first, being your a human, but after watching you I've seen you in a different light and I wanted to say...umm...I think I've...fallen for you," she said meekly. Blake paused as his eyes grew.

"Marie...I'm not sure what to say...I...I..." started Blake who was utterly in disbelief and shock, feeling as awkward as he did with Callie. "Please Blake, just hear me out, I know Callie loves you too but I'm not sure how else to express myself. I've...never met someone as courageous and sincere as you. I'm quite embarrassed to admit it," said Marie who was red-faced and uneasy about telling Blake her true feelings for him.

"Marie...I..." started Blake but he was cut off by Marie who grabbed and kissed him on the lips. Blake was frozen and didn't know how to respond to the gesture. he didn't break as it reminded him of Mimi, when they first kissed and when she expressed her feelings for him but after a moment he broke back into reality. He laid back down and shook his head. Marie gave him a passionate look with her golden eyes gleaming in the dark. Blake was slightly mesmerized as she gave a grin. She then started to pull her kimono down off her shoulder and then the other side but Blake snapped out of the trance and stopped her. "Marie no!" he exclaimed. "I can't do this!" he said again.

"What? But I..." started a shocked Marie.

"As I said, you and Callie are like family...It wouldn't be right. We're not only family but we're both squidbeak agents. I...can't accept your feelings Marie not to mention that I'm a little shocked by you, being Callie isn't here to express her opinion on this. I don't want to cause any conflicts between you two. You're both family and so am I. Like I said...I love you as a sister, both you and Callie," said Blake, speaking his peace to the inkling that revealed her admiration for him.

"(deep breath) You're right...I...understand, I'm so sorry, I don't what came over me. I'm supposed to be the calm and collected one. I think losing Callie and trying to stop Octavio has done a number on me. Can...you forgive me Blake?" she asked with sincerity.

"I forgive Marie, I suppose this has unnerved everyone. I'm sorry that I've rejected your feelings for me but..." said Blake.

"No, no Blake...I respect your nobility, you did the right thing and spoke your mind. I...need to refocus on the mission. I was unprofessional and allowed my feelings to cloud my judgement. (sigh) I'm glad Callie or gramps didn't see me like this. I'm glad we're family Blake and I can admire that. The sooner we stop Octavio the better...but not before you get some rest," said Marie changing the subject back on Blake's condition.

"I'll be fine but thank you for saving me," said Blake.

"It's what family does, now you better get some shut-eye. Hopefully, Izzy is getting by, she's done quite well for herself. Thanks to your confidence in her," said Marie with a slight smile.

"Izzy can handle herself. She just needs some self-esteem. Well, goodnight Marie," said Blake as he slowly fell asleep.

"Goodnight, Blake and sweet dreams," she said.

She watched Blake fall asleep and thought about everything he had said. Though she accepted the circumstances and respected Blake's wishes of accepting her as nothing more than a sister. She still had deep feelings for him but knew that Callie fell for him first. Putting her feelings aside for the time, the squid sister agent concentrated on finding Callie and stoping the octarians. She laid next to Blake, the agent she had great admiration for still hoping that things would change for the both of them. Marie finally fell asleep and laid over to place her arm around him, seeking comfort from her human friend and "brother." What the next day would bring is unknown.


	59. Arc 3 Chapter 13

**Arc 3 Chapter 13**

It was quiet at the Deepsea Metro as Cassie, Cleo and Cuttlefish eagerly waited for the subway to reach their station. Cleo was trying to nap with her head against her arms behind her head as she sat on the bench while Cassie was hunched over twiddling her fingers. Cuttlefish was moving around examining the large station as he never knew such a subway would run underneath the city.

"You said humans built this place," said Cuttlefish.

"As far as I know," said Cleo with her eyes still closed.

"Hmm...fascinating," replied Cuttlefish.

"What exactly is this place?" asked Cassie.

"The Deepsea Metro is like a maze of tunnels and different stations but what I understand they all connect to these testing facilities, I'm not sure what for but all I know is that it's run by Kamabo Company and I don't know that much about them," explained Cleo as she turned and looked at Cassie.

"If you don't know much about them, then why work for them?" asked Cassie.

"(sigh) You don't understand what me and my sister went through. We were homeless once were evicted from our home because we couldn't keep up with the bills. The turf war games weren't enough and neither was my sister's job. I was a rookie back then and Inkopolis can be cruel at times. I and my sister felt like bottom dwellers just trying to make ends meet until we got in contact with C.Q. Cumber and he offered us a job we couldn't pass up," said Cleo as she hunched over looking at Cassie.

"What about your folks? They couldn't help you out or go move back in with them?" asked Cassie.

"Me... and Megan, didn't want to prove we couldn't handle it and our parents have enough problems as it is. Our family wasn't exactly living high off the sea pig neither," said Cleo.

"I'm sorry to hear that... but still, you don't know who this Kamabo company is, I mean they've been around since the humans went extinct. that's pretty strange and not to mention Blake came out of that pod that was built by the same company, who knows what they're capable of," said Cassie.

"Look, I really had no other option, ok, so get off my tentacle. I did what I had to do, try being homeless and looking for scraps for nearly a month," said Cleo as she was angered by Cassie's judgment.

"Ok, I'm sorry, let's just focus on the mission, it wasn't right for me to question your actions, I guess I can't say I blame you," said Cassie.

"Think nothing of it," said Cleo as her frustration resolved.

"By the way, I did have another question," said Cassie.

"Shoot," replied Cleo.

"I heard something about you were dating an octoling guy and that's why you helped out the octarians," said a slightly stunned Cassie.

"I...am, he left Octo Valley to start a new life. he reminded of me when I first came to Inkopolis. He left the army for the surface and we eventually ran into each other and started talking. I was critical of him being an octoling but the more I listened to his reason the more I started getting interested in him, and we eventually became friends then soon we got into a relationship," explained Cleo.

"I never would have thought an inkling and an octoling would ever hook up," said Cassie who was stunned by what Cleo had said.

"We're not that different as a matter of fact," said Cleo.

"Huh... I guess I wouldn't have thought about that," said Cassie.

"An inkling and an octoling, that is odd, I would never think such a thing would happen. Even before the war, it seemed strange back then," said Cuttlefish cutting into the conversation.

"Does he know you're working for this company?" asked Cassie.

"Yeah, he works with them too, but in secrecy kinda like me and Megan. As a matter of fact, I haven't heard from him in a while. Since I've been unable to get in contact with him since I Infiltrated Camper's gang and got put in the hospital. He must be worried sick," said Cleo.

"Well why don't you call him now?" asked Cassie.

"There's no cell service down here and besides we gotta job to do. I don't want to worry him any more than he already might be," said Cleo.

"That's understandable I guess," said Cassie.

"Hey, Lass, when's that subway gonna get here?" said Cuttlefish getting impatient.

"relax old squid, I couldn't really tell you, so don't get your tentacles in a twist," said Cleo.

"Old squid! listen here, you need to mind your manners and show some respect to your elders," said Cuttlefish stomping his foot.

"Relax, I'm sure it'll be here anytime now," said Cleo as Cuttlefish glared at her while crossing his arms.

"geez what's his problem," said Cleo to herself.

After a couple of minutes a roaring noise could be heard echoing down the tunnel in front of them. A pair of lights illuminated the tracks as it got closer and stopped in front of the three inklings. The subway slowed down and came to a halt as the three eagerly waited for the occupants to come out. Suspense filled the air as the three stared at the subway unsure what would happen next. After a minute or so the doors slid open but no one was there until they looked down and spotted a little blue sea pig crawling out of the doorway wearing a conductor's hat.

"I see you've made it," said the sea pig looking up at the inklings. "And you've brought friends," it continued.

"Who are you exactly?" asked Cassie as she stared at the creature.

"young lady, my name's C.Q. Cumber and it's a pleasure to meet you," said the sea pig as it tipped its hat with one of its antennae.

"Wait, you're C.Q. Cumber?" said a baffled Cassie.

"I don't know who else I would be," replied the sea pig.

"C.Q. Cumber, I hope this doesn't void my employment with Kamabo bringing these two down here with me, they were eager to meet you and find answers about our employer," said a nervous Cleo.

The sea pig looked over Cassie and Cuttlefish who looked back at the conductor with question. "I don't see why not unless they are willing to do some tasks for the company as well. I see no harm," said the sea pig as Cassie and Cuttlefish look at each other.

"Well let's go then," said the sea pig as it crawled onboard the subway. The three inklings just walked past the very slow sea pig and found their seats while C.Q. Cumber still hadn't made through the doorway yet. The three of them found a seat while C.Q. Cumber finally made it in and headed toward the inklings.

"So where are you needing to go?" asked C.Q. Cumber

"Just take us to the hub," said Cleo.

"Very well, you will need to get suited up while you're there anyway," said the sea pig. C.Q. Cumber looked back at Cassie and Cuttlefish. "And go ahead and fill them in on what to do on our way there," said the sea pig she crawled away.

"What's the hub?" asked Cassie.

"It's where I got initiated for the company and where I first met C.Q. Cumber, don't worry you guys will be fine," said Cleo as she sat back in her seat to take a short nap.

"I hope she's right, but I feel she's not telling us everything. I think she's hiding something," said Cassie to Cuttlefish.

"Let's stay on our toes lass, I feel the same," sad Cuttlefish.

The subway took the three of them toward the first station where Cleo was employed with the mysterious company as Cassie and Cuttlefish stayed leery of their situation while Cleo just fell asleep during the trip there.

* * *

Flash was hanging out at Musselforge Fitness looking at the turf war stage that he and Izzy first played in. He was looking down off one of the ramps and recanted the match the two played in and remembering when he snapped at her for his team losing the match. "(sigh) Oh, Izzy...I was such an ink head. I shouldn't have yelled at you, it's just suki...seeing her I just got frustrated. I couldn't stand losing to her...I hope you can forgive me, I just wanna see you again," said Flash feeling deep remorse for his actions over Izzy.

Flash laid his head against his legs, deep in regret over his actions. "Flash," said a voice. Flash turned and looked toward the source of the voice. It was Jazz, his friend, and teammate.

"Jazz, (sniffle) what are you doing here?"

"I came here to check on you. We swung by your place but your mom said you came here. Me and Ben were getting really worried about you," said Jazz.

"Well, don't be, I'm fine," said Flash with attitude.

"Flash, I'm your friend," said Jazz with an annoyed glare crossing her arms. "And so am I," said another voice. It was Ben who walked up from behind Jazz.

"Dude, you need to quit beating yourself up over this and let it go. If you feel so bad then tell Izzy and let her know how you feel," said Ben.

"Yeah, I know how you feel about her," said Jazz with a smirk.

Flash blushed at Jazz's remark and turned toward her. "I...don't know what you're talking about!" shouted the embarrassed Flash.

"Ben, it's ok if you do, don't feel sorry for it," said Ben.

Flash's embarrassment started to resolve and he looked back at his friends. "You guys are right but I saw her with that tall inkling go into Ammo Knights. I was mean to her that day during the match. I don't even know where she even is," exclaimed Flash.

"We've asked around, but no one's seen Izzy," said Jazz.

"I'm not sure where they could be, ever since the great zapfish went missing, Izzy went missing," said Ben.

"Well, I'm not giving up, Izzy's out there somewhere and we gotta keep looking," said Flash as he sat up.

"Dude, what else can we do? We don't know where she even is and plus I heard Inkopolis was going to put under curfew if the great zapfish doesn't return," said Ben.

"Curfew, what for?" asked Flash.

"Without power from the zapfish, Inkopolis is dead in the water, nothing can run, dude. I've been hearing rumors that the inkopolis defense force might go to war with octarians because they were the ones that stole it from us," said Ben.

"But what about that treaty? I thought we were all supposed to get along," said Flash.

"Well it doesn't look like it, I was eager for the octarians to come and visit our city, I guess that won't happen," said Jazz.

"Surely their just rumors," said Flash. "I hope we don't go to war with them," he continued. Just then alarms went off all over the city. After a couple of moments, the alarms stopped and was followed by a public service announcement. "Inkopolis, this is the IDF. By orders of the inkling council, we hereby place the city under full curfew and urge a shelter-in-place with the absence of the great zapfish. Anyone outside their home during curfew will be subject to arrest and questioning, this is for your own safety, if you have any questions then to inform our liaison," said the intercom.

"Are they serious?" said a shocked Jazz.

"They can't be," said Ben.

"We urge everyone to make their way to their homes and until the curfew had been lifted. The IDF and police will be patrolling the streets of Inkopolis to ensure that the shelter-in-place orders are not violated. This is for your own safety. That is all," ended the intercom announcement.

The three looked at each other then soon all their phones rang. It was their parents. "Yes, mom I'm coming home now, ok, bye," said Jazz to her parents as she hung up.

"Alright, I know, yes, I'm coming home right now," said Flash to his mom.

"Yeah dad, I heard the public service announcement, I'm going home right away," said Ben to his dad on the phone.

The three looked at each other again. "I guess we better head home then," said Jazz.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Flash.

"That was my dad, he seemed pretty concerned. Something must be up," said Ben.

"Isn't your dad in the IDF?" asked Flash.

"Yeah, he's a strategist for the IDF. It can't be good from how he acted. I better get home before he gets even more worried," said Ben.

The three leave Musselforge Fitness and walk back to their homes. Down the streets, they could see inkling propaganda that was smearing and criticizing the octarians and their government. War posters could also be seen with an inkling soldier pointing at the reader saying we need you. IDF draft and recruit ads were also taped to poles and walls and some were littering the streets and sidewalks.

"So I guess...we are going to war, this isn't good," said Flash.

"Look, let's just take a deep breath, we'll get through this, ok you guys," said Jazz.

"I don't know how you expect us to be calm in a time like this," said Ben staring at Jazz.

Flash felt an Inkopolis Defense Force draft poster hit his foot and he looked down and picked it up. He studied it and an idea popped in his head while Jazz and Ben were bickering.

"You guys, I think...I'm going to join the Inkopolis Defense Force," exclaimed Flash.

"WHAT!" they shouted in unison.

"Dude are you crazy! You're too young and besides if you can lose in a turf war battle what's to say you'll make it in a war with the octarians!" said a flabbergasted Ben at utter surprise his friend would even think of an idea like that.

"He's right Flash! Why would you even consider that!?" shouted a stunned Jazz.

"I'm serious! Maybe... I can find Izzy if I joined the IDF, not to mention...maybe she'll be impressed with me being in the army," said Flash.

"Bro! You're not thinking clearly! Is this what it's all about, over her!?" shouted Ben who was started to get agitated with Flash's remarks.

"I'm doing this and you guys aren't stopping me!" shouted Flash.

"You're willing to put your life on the line for that chick, you don't even know her, you were mad at her for losing the match, now this!" said Ben in anger.

"I don't care what you think, besides, if the octarians did steal the great zapfish then joining the IDF may be the best, then I can fight for everyone, including Izzy," said Flash.

"You know what, I don't care neither. You're willing to leave everything, your turf war status, your family, your friends for her...Fine then! Go get splatted then! Who cares if your best friends and family worry sick about you!" shouted Ben.

Flash please don't do this, we don't wanna lose you knowing we might go to war," said Jazz trying to reason with her friend.

"I'm sorry Jazz but my decision is made and I'm joining even if I have to lie about my age," said Flash.

"Ben! say something!" demanded Jazz. Ben just looked at her with indignation and turn away.

"Bye you guys," said Flash as he squid formed and slithered away.

"FLASH!" shouted Jazz as she reached her hand out and fell to her knees.

"Let him go!" sneered Ben.

"But Ben..." started Jazz.

"If he wants to join the IDF and find Izzy then let him, we gotta get home before it gets too late," said Ben with indifference as he started to walk away.

Jazz looked at Ben then turned toward the direction of where Flash headed off to. She stood up and slowly followed Ben feeling saddened by Flash's decision and the end of their friendship.

* * *

The dome walls projected a cloudy night sky and a cool breeze that blew threw the unfinished building of Tentacle Towers through it's exposed walls. A figure could be lying on the floor of a cell they were placed in hours ago. The sergeant woke up and rubbed her head from the blow she was given by the octoling rebel. She looked around and remembered the events that transpired before being placed in the cage around her.

"(sigh) Well, I went from one cage to another, awesome job Maxie," said the sergeant in defeat.

She got up and looked around. She noticed it was night time and saw no guards around. "I hope Blake rescues me soon, I need to get a hold HQ ASAP and inform them on the octo rebels's plans," said the sergeant.

She downed her head as she grabbed the bars of the cage. "Oh, Maxie, you never learn," said a voice in the cage with her.

The sergeant jumped and turned around but saw no one. She then turned back around and looked outside the cage and still didn't see a soul. "Over here," said the voice again.

She looked toward the direction of the voice and saw a figure on the bed of the cell. It was the entity from before, back when she was locked up at the rebel base. An octoling sporting a white veiled dress that looked just like her. Maxie rubbed her eyes to see if she was seeing things and gave the entity a glare. "What do you want?" said Maxie harshly.

"Just keeping you company, so lighten up," said the octoling entity.

"Why are you here?" asked Maxie.

"I'm here to talk some sense into you," said the entity.

"Talk some sense into me, what could you possibly want to say to me. I'm in the same predicament I was in before. I don't want to hear what you have to say," said Maxie crossing her arms and turning away from the octoling entity.

"Headstrong as usual," said the entity as she gave a sigh. "You like dealing with your problems head-on, unfortunately, it will cost you in the end. Look at what's happened to you so far. You're so eager to deal with that major, that you've lost your train of thought. Acting before thinking, your instincts and stubbornness have proven to be a bigger threat to yourself than those rebels, you're not reliant on others for support but rather facing your problems by yourself, I come to you for reason not intrusion," said the entity.

Maxie's mood lightened up and she started listening to the entity as she turned around to look at her. "(sigh) I guess... you're right, but how can I find peace while we are at war?" asked the sergeant.

"Blake may be the key," said the entity

"Blake?" asked a confused Maxie.

"Yes, the human, he may be the bridge to peace between the two races," said the entity. "And he may bring peace inside of you, Maxie," continued the entity with a smile.

"Bring peace? Between the inklings and octolings? Bring peace inside me?" asked a still baffled Maxie.

"You still haven't let go of your parent's deaths and your distrust toward the inklings. You keep fighting your feelings for Blake, why not accept you love him. You've been having dreams of the promised land...and Blake," said the entity. "I know you Maxie...and I know what the future can hold for you," the entity continued.

"Just tell me if me and Blake will ever... be together?" asked Maxie impatiently.

"That's for you to find out. As for Blake, He's still determined to find his family. Another had revealed her love him but..." said the entity.

"But what..." responded Maxie with anxiety.

"Let's just say that he has accepted them as a family in this new world that he's awoken into but that doesn't mean that things could change in the future," said the entity.

Maxie had much running through her mind and couldn't see clearly what the entity was telling her. Conflicted with what the entity had said to her the ghostly octoling walked over and placed her finger on Maxie's forehead and a bright white light surrounded the two of them.

The sergeant opened her eyes and found herself sitting up against a large oak tree near a stream. She was wearing a white veiled dress like the entity and woke up from a nap. "Ohhh...what...happened, where am I?" asked the sergeant.

"Maxie!...Maxie!" shouted a voice. She looked around and saw a figure looking around shouting her name until they spotted her. "Maxie? There you are," said the figure as they ran toward her under the tree. It was Blake as Maxie looked at him with confusion. "Maxie, what's wrong? I've been looking all over the place for you," said Blake.

"You...have," said Maxie meekly.

"Yeah, it's dinnertime and we need to get back to the house," said Blake.

"Dinnertime...house?" said the sergeant as she stood up still unsure what was going on.

"Maxie, are you feeling alright?" asked Blake.

She soon remembered what was going on with dreams she had been having and looked back up at Blake who was concerned. "yeah, I'm fine, I just woke up, lead the way," said Maxie as she rubbed her head.

"Ok, as long as you're fine," said Blake as he signaled her to follow.

As the two of them walked Maxie got beside Blake and grabbed his hand. Blake looked at Maxie as she gave him a smile and he smiled back. The two of them reached a white wooden family house that you would see out in the country with a porch and swing. Maxie was absolutely stunned and was taking in the sight of the house and the surroundings. The two of them walk on the porch and go inside.

Maxie was perplexed, she had never been inside such a nice and comforting place. The floors were a dark laminated wood lined with white trimmed walls. She tried taking in the sight of the interior and was mesmerized. Where on earth was she the octoling thought herself. "C'mon Maxie before the food gets cold," said Blake as Maxie froze from examining the home's interior. She was still trying to take in the surroundings. The interior was average but for the octoling it was absolutely amazing seeing what a human lived in, instead of residing in a cold dark dome never seeing the sun or the sky.

As Maxie got closer to the kitchen, the smell of food drew her in. She had never smelt something so good in her life. She stepped in and saw Blake at the dining table with the food she smelled set up on top of the table. She stared at her meal and it looked satisfying. The octoling stared at it as she started to drool at the sight. "Maxie, you gonna sit down and eat?" asked Blake.

The octoling shook her head and snapped back into reality. "Oh, yeah...thanks Blake, it looks really good. You...prepared this?" she asked him.

"Yeah...I thought this would be a good idea. Gotta be better than kelp," said Blake as he started eating.

Maxie picked up a fork and started digging into her meal. It was chicken with mash potatoes and green beans. The taste of the food was like pleasure for her mouth. She slowly took in every bite never eating something so good. Blake smiled seeing how Maxie was acting toward the food he cooked for her.

After Maxie got done eating she looked across the table at Blake. "Blake...I...can't thank you enough for all of this...I" started the sergeant as she wanted to cry.

"Maxie it's okay, like I said before, you wanted to come here so I made a promise I would bring you her, I know how much you talked about this place and...," said Blake.

"No...I wanna make it up to you," said the sergeant sternly as she got up off the table.

"Maxie it's fine, look, let me clean the table and do the dishes. Just go sit in the living room and relax," said Blake.

"No, let me clean the table and do the dishes," said Maxie as she grabbed her plate and Blake's. Blake was unsure why Maxie was acting like this, so he decided to head into the living room not wanting to argue with the octoling.

A few minutes passed and she dropped one of the plates on the floor as she was washing them. "Dammit Maxie!" she jeered at herself.

"Maxie are you ok?" asked Blake hearing the plate bust.

"It's fine! Just an accident," said Maxie as she swept and threw the plate away. "All finished, Blake," she said. The octoling walked into the living room where Blake was and sat beside him on the couch. He hugged her and the two embraced each other for a few minutes. "Blake... I love you," said Maxie as she looked up at Blake.

"I love you too Maxie," said Blake. "You know I do..." he continued as he looked at the octoling.

Maxie then locked eyes with the human and her affection for him reached its peak. "Then... show me," said Maxie.

"Huh?" said a confused Blake.

"I wanna make it up to, for everything you've done for me," said Maxie looking hard at the human.

"Maxie, what's gotten into you?" asked Blake who was dumbfounded on her behavior.

Maxie got off the couch and stood in front of Blake. Her eyes still glued to the human as he stared at her wondering what she was about to do. Maxie slowly pulled up the veiled white dress she was wearing and dropped it on the floor. Blake's eyes widened and his expression turned to that of shock, not predicting what the octoling had just done. The naked octoling climbed up into Blake's lap and placed her hand under his chin, drawing his face toward her's. This was followed by a deep kiss with Blake given in to the octoling's affection as he soon placed his hand beside her face. The image soon faded to bright white light as Maxie woke up from the lucid dream.

She jumped up and shook her head. She looked around and saw that she was back in her cage at Tentacle Towers. "What! But...I...Blake..." said the octoling sergeant as she got up. "No...No...No...why did it have to end!" shouted the frustrated sergeant. She got on her knees and pounded the floor with her fist with her head lying against the floor too. Tears formed in her eyes and she fell over crying. "Why do you do this to me!" she cried. She continued to ball in the cage as she laid on the floor but a figure was watching her. It was Serena observing her old commander out of sight in the shadows.

"Maxie..." she said as a tear ran down her face behind the goggles that was controlling her.

* * *

At the octarian army base in Octo Valley the lieutenant was having a hard time sleeping. She got up and decided to walk around to get her mind off things. "I could use a kelp ale right about now, but I need to stay sober-minded, I just hope Maxie and the recon team aren't in any danger. I haven't heard from them in days, If this keeps up then I might have to send in a search party," said the lieutenant as she sighed.

It had been nearly an hour since the elite left her quarters and walked away into the night. She was leaning against a guard rail on the balcony overlooking a portion of the octarian base. Much was stewing in her mind about the reports she heard about the great zapfish's disappearance and possibly a retaliation from the inklings blaming them for its theft.

"Lieutenant! I've been looking all over for you! What are you doing up there?!" shouted a voice.

The elite looked down and saw an octoling in a lab coat. "What is it!" shouted the lieutenant with annoyance in her voice.

"I'm sorry to bother you but I need to talk to you!" the octoling researcher shouted.

The elite grumbled and octo jumped down beside her. "This better be good," said the lieutenant in irritation.

"Yes, ma'am we've come across another human skeleton sharing the same DNA as the one that was rescued from the saltspray rig that was let go with the inklings," explained the octoling in the lab coat.

"Huh, another one, look right now my concern is our relations with the inklings. So far we can't get a hold of Inkopolis or the inkling council. I guess we'll have to explain to them the situation about the octo rebels but I doubt they would believe me. The octarian government wanted to keep this contained to secure diplomatic relations with Inkopolis but I guess we have no choice if it could mean averting war if that's even likely, so right now I could care less about your fossil findings," said the irritated elite.

"But this is an interesting find, to discover the remains of humans that lived on this earth ages ago. You may not find it fascinating but I do, I had just wished that the sergeant wouldn't have allowed the human to stay with the inklings. There goes our chance of finding out more about a human especially since the fossil shares the same DNA as him, from the blood sample we received," said the researcher.

"What is done is done, as of now, it's not of importance. stopping the rebels and making sure we don't go to war with the inklings is. Now I know you and your team are fixated on human history and artifact, but I'm not concerned with things about the past I worried about things of the present," said the lieutenant.

"Well speaking of the past, what's the status of the vault. I've been hearing reports about the rebels trying break into the vault. What if they succeed? We don't know what's inside it," said the researcher.

"It's nothing worth panicking about. Our people back under Octavio's rule couldn't even get inside it and plus a task force has been assigned to go check it out. We haven't anything from the unit that was assigned to guard the vault. I'm sure the rebels are behind it," said the lieutenant.

"So the rebels are inside the valley too, what else do we have to worry about?" asked the lab-coat wearing octoling.

"Absolutely nothing, now look...I know you're concerned but I can assure you that the valley is constantly being monitored, especially at the canyon border. I don't believe the rebels would try anything inside the valley. It would be a bold move on their part unless there was something of interest that proved valuable for their operations," said the lieutenant.

"Well, their's another reason I brought up the vault. The fossil had an ID card with a symbol on it, If memory stands, I believe it is the same symbol on the vault doors. There must be a connection and with the fossil sharing the same DNA as Blake, I'd assume kin. Then that's why the octo rebels were so eager to apprehend him.

"The vault was here like the domes before we were banished down here. We concluded that they must have been built by humans. So yes, I believe that the human played a vital role of the rebels plans to get inside. Not sure how though and why the vault is of great interest to them anyway. I know it can't be good though, unless they know something we don't," said the lieutenant as she downed her head gave a sigh. She turned away from the octoling who waved her on. "Just continue your research and let me worry about the rebels," said the elite.

"Yes, ma'am," replied the octoling.

The lieutenant headed back to her quarters while the researcher headed back to the lab.

In the shadows watching the lieutenant and octoling researcher talk, a figure looked at the two of them and overheard their conversation. After they left, the figure kneeled down and pressed the side of their goggles. "Black Knight we're in position," said the figure into their headset.

"Good, now start sabotaging their equipment and make your way to their research lab and wait for further commands," ordered Black Knight.

The octoling waved at more figures that approached from behind. "Alright, our orders are clear, once we've disabled the equipment and place ink charges around the base we move to our primary target...their lab," said the octoling rebel.

Meantime, the octoling researcher returned to the lab where she was met with another octoling in a lab coat. "Ruby, you're back, we have done gathered more samples and discovered something extraordinary in the DNA of the human remains," said the octoling researcher.

"What is it?" asked Ruby.

"Look here, take a look at the DNA," said the octoling.

Ruby walked over to the microscope and then to a computer behind them with a display of the DNA. "Wait a minute, the DNA changed its code, but how," said Ruby who was slightly stunned.

"Not only that, look at the strands, does it look familiar?" asked the researching pointing at the display.

"That...can't be, Eva we need to save this data. I didn't believe it was possible. This is proof that debunks what we've known about our origins. This means the sunken sea scrolls are lying. This changes everything and possibly could end the war. This is remarkable," said Ruby.

"You really think this will bring permanent peace among the octarians and inklings for good," asked Eva.

"Possibly, we need to inform both governments about this before a war does start," said Ruby.

"I'll get all this data saved right away, ma'am," said Eva as she headed over to the computer.

"This is astounding, just wait until everyone finds out about this," said Ruby.

The octo rebel recon team had just got done planting charges around the loading docks of the octozeppelins. They set their sights on the research facility on the other side of the base. They octo jumped on the rooftops and behind cover on the way to the labs without getting noticed. Patrols of the octarian army were limited and minuscule at that time of the night. The rebel team finally made to the research facility and slowly made their way in with guns drawn.

"Black Knight come in, we've made it inside the research facility. What are your next orders?" asked the team leader.

"Gather up any data that would be essential to the operation. Find out if the octarian army has found out a way to get inside the vault," said Black Knight.

They walked down an unguarded corridor and finally inside the labs. As they stormed in they aimed their weapons on the octoling researchers. "Alright! Hands up and nobody move!" shouted the lead rebel.

"What's the meaning of this!" shouted Ruby the head researcher.

"Shut up and do what we say or we'll splat you all one by one!" commanded the lead rebel.

"Everyone! do as they say!" shouted Ruby to her research team. Eva and the others nodded as she took the opportunity to cut on a microphone to the comm network so the base could hear what was going.

"We're the octo rebel saboteur team and we demand you hand over any data related to the vault!" ordered the team leader.

"Look! We don't know what your intentions are but we have no data on the vault here. We don't know how to get in it!" shouted a frustrated Ruby.

"Then what have you been researching in here?! Tell us!" demanded the rebel.

"Just human artifacts and fossils!" shouted Eva.

"What's on the computer beside you?!" shouted the rebel as she pointed at the computer behind Eva.

"It's nothing! Just data on the fossils!" explained Eva.

"Let me see and keep your hands where I can see them!" ordered the rebel as she moved over to Eva. She shoved Eva out of the way and examined the diagram on the screen. "What is this?" asked the rebel.

"It's DNA from the fossils, nothing you would want," said Ruby as the rebel turned and glared at her before turning back to the computer screen.

"What's your fascination with these fossils anyway? What's so special about an extinct race?" asked the rebel leader with indifference.

"Well if you have to know, They are..." started Eva as Ruby signaled her to keep quiet.

"Know what?...start talking..." demanded the rebel leader. Eva remained quiet as the rebel waited for her to answer. "If you won't tell, then maybe I should shoot you and ask someone else," suggested the rebel. The saboteur team gathered up the researchers and congested them together off to the side. The rebel leader aimed her weapon at Eva's head. "I'm going to count to three and if you don't start talking then you'll be cleaning your friend off the floor," sneered the rebel leader.

Ruby and the rest of her team looked at the two with horror. "No...then one," sounded off the rebel as she started to count.

"Two..." counted the rebel again.

"Please don't do this!" pleaded Ruby.

And...three..." sounded of the rebel as she slowly squeezed the trigger of her octoshot.

"ALRIGHT! We'll tell you! Please don't kill her!" shouted Ruby.

The rebel smiled at Ruby behind her goggles. "That's a good girl, now spill it," said the rebel.

Meanwhile, the Lieutenant had heard the whole confrontation between the rebels and the researchers. "I want a rescue team sent to the research facility right away!" shouted the lieutenant over the radio. "Breach and clear the lab of those scum and make sure the researchers aren't harmed!" she continued. She grabbed an octoshot from the armory and rendezvoused with the rescue team which was getting prepped outside the research facility. "Everyone, get into places! I don't want any collateral damage!" ordered the lieutenant.

"Roger!" they shouted in unison.

The rescue team hugged the wall by the doorway and got ready to breach the facility with the lieutenant standing by them ready as well.

The rebels still had the researchers herded out of the way while the leader still had her weapon up against Eva. Ruby the research lead explained about the DNA from the human fossil and what they had discovered about it. The rebel leader was frozen by what the octoling told her and couldn't sum up the outcome of their findings. "That's...impossible! That would mean that all of our historical archives and teachings would be false and inaccurate," said the rebel as she was still pondering on the matter.

"It's true, believe it or not," said Ruby.

"I...I...won't believe it, I don't care what that data proves. It doesn't matter anyway! Once we attack inkopolis and take down you traitors in Octo Valley, the octarians will rule the surface and there's not a damn thing you can do about!" shouted the rebel. "This data is worthless, which means all of you are worthless! Splat all of them!" shouted the leader to her team. They all held up their octoshots and prepared to execute the researchers until.

BOOM! The lab doors flew open and the rescue team drew their guns on the rebels. "Lower your weapons now!" shouted the lieutenant. "There's no escape!" she continued.

The saboteur team dropped their weapons while the leader still had her weapon on Eva. "Cowards!" she shouted at her team. "Stay back or I waste the octopus!" shouted the leader as she grabbed Eva from behind and pressed her weapon against her head.

"Give up! There's no way out of this!" shouted the lieutenant with her gun drawn towards the rebel and Eva.

"Ha! You think I'll give up without a fight! Traitorous dogfish!" sneered the rebel. She threw Eva down and shot at the lieutenant. The lieutenant returned fire and shot the leader down but she took a hit to the shoulder and upper chest from the rebel and jeered as she was struck.

The rebel leader was knocked out but the lieutenant was in pain as she clutched her shoulder. "Lieutenant!" shouted Ruby as she rushed toward her trying to sit her up.

"You guys...alright," said the lieutenant jeering from the wounds.

"We're fine, thank you for saving us from them. We would've been dead if it weren't for you and your team," said Ruby.

"Think...nothing of it," said the lieutenant as she started to cough up ink.

"Lieutenant, stay with me!" exclaimed Ruby who was getting deeply concerned.

"I'll...be al...right," said the lieutenant as she passed out.

"Lieutenant, LIEUTENANT! I NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!" shouted Ruby as the rescue team accessed the elite and treated her before getting her to the infirmary.


	60. Arc 3 chapter 14

**Arc 2 Chapter 14**

The Arc Polaris was slowly descending back to earth as the crew of the large ship was frantically putting out the fires and members in the cockpit were trying to keep the ship on its orbit. "Sir! It's no use! The Ark is veering off course and the earth's gravitational pull is dragging us down back into the atmosphere. The engines don't have enough power and much of the fuel has been depleted!" shouted a crew member to Director Irons as they were running down a corridor to the command center of the ship.

"I don't care what it takes! We can't allow the ship to crash back down on earth! I want all thrusters at full power and I want the Ark back on its orbit! Do you understand!" yelled the director as he grabbed the collar of the crew member.

The crew member was shoved away and he rushed ahead toward the cockpit. The director and his guards finally made to the command center where they faced the AI tartar. "Tartar! Direct the ship back on its course right away!" shouted the Director.

"I can't do that," replied Tartar.

"What! Why not!" shouted the director.

"I'm commencing resettlement of the earth. The occupants of the Ark Polaris will soon reestablish civilization of the planet in 24 hours," said Tartar.

"Abort you stupid AI! Don't you understand that the earth is still covered in water!" explained the director.

"I have already released the serum into the occupants' cryostasis pods during our descent. I have determined that the crew will not sustain aboard the Ark Polaris before the projected time of resettlement and that the risk of pod malfunction is moderate to high, This is the best course of action if mankind is to survive," said Tartar.

"I order you to abort! Someone shut that AI down right away before it's too late!" shouted the director.

"It is too late for all of you, human knowledge will be passed down to the next race of inhabitants once civilization is rebuilt and restored. It is the will of the professor. I'm sorry you fail to see that," said Tartar.

The guards took their weapons and shot at the computer systems and screen thinking they shut Tartar down but the AI had already infected everyone with the serum and soon it would permanently change humanity for years to come. The Ark shook violently and everyone scrambled to get to there pods. "Everyone get in your assigned Cryostasis pods now!" ordered director Irons.

The guard headed to their pods while Director Irons was on his way to his. "I'm glad my pod was not connected to the system. That doctor Carter designed a handful of self-sustaining pods for me and one of the rescue shuttles for just an emergency," said the director to himself. He hopped inside the specially designed pod and closed it. "I'll soon be the ruler of our new world and lead mankind to a new future," said the director as the pod commenced the cryostasis stage.

The ship descended back to the earth as it engulfed into flames from the atmosphere. The ship was slowly coming apart and landed on a small exposed island surrounded by the oceans in a fiery crash.

For years the ship laid on the island before the occupants would be released from their pods and mankind would be forever changed.

1000 years later, on another large island miles away, the rescue shuttle doctor Carter and his family escaped on was half-buried in the ground it was covered with foliage growing around it. The shuttle was decrepit and was starting to blend in with its surroundings. Inside dust and moss covered the walls and floors as well as the pods the humans were laying inside. One of the pods lit up and hissed as the hatch on it opened. Inside was a thawed figure that hadn't woke up yet.

The figure blinked to refocus their sight. They sat up and crawled out of the pod, trying to get their bearings. "Ohhh...what happened? How long has it been?" asked the nauseated figure holding their head. They turned looked to the other three pods in the shuttle and remembered what had happened. "My wife, Amy, Brandon, I remember but how long have we been in those pods?" exclaimed James.

He stumbled over to the pods and tried to open them. He banged on the pods until they finally opened up. "Hon, hon!" shouted James.

"J...James, what's...going on? Where are we?" asked his wife weakly. He pulled her out as she looked around. "It's ok, honey, we're safe now," said James pulling her into a hug.

"Wait, where's Amy? where's Brandon?" she asked.

"We're in here," said Amy as she and Brandon slowly climbed out of the pods they were in.

"Amy...Brandon, you're ok," exclaimed the mother. As she ran over to hug her daughter. James headed over to Brandon. "Glad you two made it," said James.

"Uhh, my head, I don't wanna do that again, where the heck are we?" asked Brandon, feeling like he needed to vomit.

"Last I remember was the shuttle crashing back down to the earth. By the look of things, we must've crashed on land but I'm not sure where," explained James. "We need to get out of here and check our surroundings," suggested James.

He climbed up a hatch on top of the shuttle and looked around and saw nothing but a lush jungle. "What do you see?" asked his wife.

"Nothing but dense forest, I can't tell where we are," replied James.

The three other humans climbed up and got on top of the shuttle and looked around. "Where are we?" asked Amy.

The four of them scanned the area and soon spotted smoke coming from somewhere further away out of the forest. "Look, smoke, maybe it's people, dear," said the wife as she pointed to the direction of the smoke.

"I'm not sure, but let's be careful, ok is everyone ready?" asked James. They all nodded and jumped down off the shuttle and headed to the direction of the smoke to see if they could get some help. The humans would soon find out they were not alone on the island and that the inhabitants would change their lives forever as they trekked through the jungle.

Blake had woken up from the vision and looked around. He saw he was back in Marie's shack with a figure lying on top of his body. It was Marie with her head laid on Blake's chest fast asleep. He kimono was halfway down her back with her exposed chest on his. He blushed at the sight and pulled the kimono back up to her shoulders as to not see anything he didn't want to see out of respect and seeing her as family. She moved around as he pulled up her kimono and afterward he moved her over to the side and sat up.

He looked at the sleeping squid sister and gave a deep sigh. "I guess she needed some comfort, I can't blame her though," said Blake. He walked out of the shack and covered his face from the morning sunlight. He sat on the ledge and stared at Inkopolis in the distance. "Home...I don't know what home is anymore," said Blake as he had conflicting thoughts running through his mind. He turned back to the shack and gave a deep breath. "I need to finish the mission, I need to rescue the sergeant and find Callie...then I can focus on finding my family," said Blake.

He turned back to Inkopolis and then looked down at Octo Canyon. "don't worry sarge I'm coming," said Blake. He got up and walked trough the octopus archway above the shack. He went through the training area and finally reached the tea kettle. He popped the lid off the kettle and looked inside. "(sigh) well, here I go," said Blake as he jumped in. The kettle steamed and shot him to the next location.

Meantime, Marie rolled over, reaching her arm out but she didn't feel Blake beside her. She opened her eyes and saw Blake was gone. "Blake? Blake!" she shouted as she sat up holding up her kimono. She got up and walked around still shouting his name. "Where could he have gone?" she asked herself.

She then headed over to the training area and saw the kettle was still active. "Oh no, Blake, I need to get a hold of Sheldon. He wasn't done repairing his headset plus he doesn't have a weapon," exclaimed Marie as she rushed over to the radio at the shack.

"Sheldon! Sheldon! Come in!" shouted Marie. "Please answer me you crab," she said to herself in irritation.

"Marie? (yawn) do you know what time it is? " asked the half-asleep horseshoe crab.

"Nevermind that Sheldon, Blake left and headed back into Octo Canyon without his headset and weapon!" shouted Marie.

"What! don't worry Marie, I'll see if I can do something," said Sheldon.

"Well hurry," said Marie as she got off the radio. She gave a deep sigh and shook her head. "Blake why did you leave like that," she said to herself.

* * *

Izzy made it to the next dome through the tea kettle she was shot through. She looked around and saw the dome was simulating a night sky. It was the night prior and Izzy was getting sleepy. Before she progressed any further she found a place to lay down, under some trees on the floating landmass she was on. She stretched and laid under the trees and started to nod off.

"I didn't realize being an agent was so overwhelming. I feel bad for Cass, I thought being in the squidbeak would be cool," said Izzy as she rolled over. After a moment, her thoughts were running around in her head. "I...miss home...I miss Flash and Cassie..." said Izzy sadly. Tears started to develop in her eyes. "I don't wanna be a squidbeak agent anymore...I wanna go home," whimpered Izzy as she kept herself from crying.

Minutes passed and the inkling girl finally fell asleep but on the other side of the landmass was a small fleet of Octozeppelins being manned by the octo rebels who were loading them up and preparing for the assault on Inkopolis. The Octozeppelin station was busy with octarians loading equipment onboard the octozeppleins while other octarians were training for combat.

The scar-faced Major an octoling elite and second-in-command of the rebels was overseeing the operations. "Once the inkling navy sends its fleet to form a blockade around Octo Valley, they will leave themselves vulnerable to our octozeppelins. Those stupid squids think those traitors took the great zapfish. This will play well into our plans not to mention their diplomats were intercepted and captured before they could reach the octarian government. Inkopolis will soon be ripe for the picking and we'll soon take care of those turncoats in Octo Valley once Inkopolis falls and the inklings are under our foot," sneered the major.

Soon an octoling regular headed over to the elite as she watched the rebels prepare for the attack on the inklings. "Ma'am, the octozeppelins are loaded and the troops are ready, when do we deploy?" asked the octoling.

"Octavio has informed me the attack on Inkopolis will commence in the morning as soon as the inkling naval fleet heads to Octo Valley, then the city will be left open for our octozeppelins to move in," answered the major.

"What about the squidbeak agents?" asked the octoling.

"The Octo-Samurai will deal with the inkling but the human on the other hand. That sergeant will provide the perfect bait for that fossil while we capture him at Tentacle Towers before he can reach her," said the major.

"Why do we need the human alive for anyway?" she asked again.

The major was starting to get annoyed at the octoling's questioning and bared her teeth at her. "He's our only ticket inside that vault. The red queen also informed me she had other special plans in store for that human but she won't elaborate on what they are. Now, I don't wanna hear any more questions! Now head to your quarters and get some rest for the attack tomorrow morning!" demanded the elite.

"Y...Y...Yes Ma'am!" she saluted and octo formed away.

As the octoling left the major had received a phone call. She picked up her octophone and answered it. "Yes, Ma'am," responded the major.

"I'm insuring that everything will according to plan and that we're keeping Octavio on a tight leash. He will lead the assault on Inkopolis and once we've taken control of the inklings, we will set our sights on Octo Valley. When the Octarian government is toppled with your help, Octavio will be knocked off his throne and you will take charge, Red Queen," said the Major. "The human? I've already made plans to catch him and once I do I'll inform you," she continued.

The major had a nervous look on her face as the Red Queen was displeased that Blake wasn't captured yet. "I can assure you that the human is as good as yours once we intercept him at Tentacle Towers," said the major in a distressed tone. "I know you were expecting the human in your possession already, I won't let you down my queen. Yes ma'am, Black Knight out," said the major as she was in a hurry yo get off the phone.

She placed the phone in her pocket and continued overseeing the operations before retiring to her quarters for the attack in the morning.

Meanwhile, back at the power station inside the arena was the giant roller left behind by the Octo-Samarui that was slain by the inkling agent. The motor built on to the roller hummed and steamed. A light flashed on it and the ghost of the Octo-Samarui descended back down onto the roller. After a moment the Octo-Samurai regenerated and squeezed out of the roller itself and hopped onto the floor with one knee down. He looked back and grabbed his roller clutching it in his hand.

"This isn't over insolent squid, I will avenge my honor and stop your reign of terror, mark my words," said the Octo-Samarai as he stood up.

* * *

That following day, Marina was in her lab at Pearl's mansion when all of a sudden Pearl shouted for her to come into the den. Marina left her lab and headed toward the den where Pearl was sitting on the couch pointing at the TV. "What is it, Pearly?" asked Marina in slight distress.

"Rina, look!" she pointed.

On the TV was an emergency broadcast being put out by the Inkopolis Defense Force. Commander Armie of the IDF was relaying a message through the inkopolis news stations. "This is a public service announcement for all inklings. As you all know the great zapfish was stolen by the octarians that have violated the treaty. We have sent diplomats to talk with the Octarian government but we have not heard back from them. We can only assume they have been interned my the octarians and seek no resolution of peace between us. We are prepared for anything the Octarians may be planning. A shelter-in-place order has been established as well as a curfew. Any inklings caught out during the curfew are subject to arrest and questioning. That is all and I wish the safety for all of Inkopolis. This is a public service announcement brought to you by the Inkopolis Defense Force," The message ended with an IDF icon appearing on the screen afterward.

"Oh no, Pearl this isn't good. I can't go back to Inkopolis! I'm an octoling and they could take me in thinking I might be a spy or worse deport me," said Marie in much distress.

"Rina! That ain't gonna happen! They'll all have to go through me first!" said Pearl as she stood off the couch in a fighting posture.

"Pearly, I don't want you going down for me, what do we do?" she asked frantically.

"We'll just stay here and out of sight," suggested Pearl.

"Pearly we have to think of something better than that," said Marina.

"Well I don't know what else we can do!" exclaimed Pearl as she stuck her hand in a jar of mayo.

"I'm heading back to the lab, let me know if anything else comes up," asked Marina as she walked off.

"You and that dumb lab of yours, we hardly get to hang out like we used to," said a frustrated Pearl.

"Now's not the time Pearl. With the great zapfish gone and the inklings on the verge of going to war with the octolings. hanging out and doing girl things is the last thing on my mind. (sigh) Right now I'm concerned about Inkopolis," said Marina.

"Rina, everything will be fine, you're getting your tentacles in a wad over nothing, just relax and chill yo," said Pearl as she plopped back down with her jar of mayo.

Marina shook her head and continued back to her lab. Pearl just moaned and went back to eating her mayo and laying on the couch.

Marina got back on her laptop and saw a message that had appeared on her screen. She clicked on it read the message that was sent. It was from Indigo_Agent and it read:

_This is an urgent message from Indigo_Agent._

_DJ_Hyperfresh I've heard sources that Octarians plan on defending Octo Valley and if the inklings do place a blockade around the octarian territory they will take action. I fear war could start if things escalate. Me and the outcasts are going to keep our heads down for a while. I'll try and stay in touch if I can. Also, I'm hearing that the Octo rebels may attack Inkopolis soon with Octavio leading them. Please stay safe._

_Indigo_Agent out._

Marina finished reading the message and slowly closed the laptop. "You too, Indigo, Said Marina as she downed her head worrying over the outcome and whether or not the inklings and Octarians would ever establish peace again.

Meantime at a disclosed area in Octarian territory, a purple tentacled octoling could be seen sitting at a table inside a small structure. She had momentarily put away a laptop of her own hooked up to a small satellite dish. "I was hoping we would eventually visit and catch up on things old friend but with things the way they are right now, it may be unlikely," said the octoling.

She got up and walked out of the shack she was in. She wasn't wearing any goggles or armor like an octoling normally would but instead just her tank top and shorts with her stomach exposed. Outside were other small dwellings with more armorless octolings walking around as well as the walking tentacles all with purple color instead of red like normal.

"Indigo!" shouted a voice. The octoling stopped and looked. She saw another purple-headed octoling with a flower on her tentacle run toward her. "Luna?" she responded.

"You've been cooped up in that shack for a while now," said Luna with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, I've been talking to an old friend and informing her of what's been going on in the valley, I finally managed to catch a signal on the octarian network since I don't have to go back," said Indigo.

"Indigo, you know we're trying to stay out of the affairs between the inklings and octarians, why are you still getting involved in that," said Luna with slight irritation.

"I'm sorry Luna but you know as well as I do that I just want peace to stay among the two races, I'm not getting directly involved," said Indigo.

"I don't want us getting discovered, we are outcasts, after all, deserters, throwaways, expendables. We've worked hard to establish a place we can call home," said Luna.

"I assure you I won't get us caught, believe me, Luna. I was hoping we would settle in Inkopolis before anything could happen," said Indigo.

"Inkopolis? Why would we wanna go there? Those inklings would never accept us, treaty or not. This place may not be great but it's better than being in the army," said Luna.

"To think you used to love being in the army, you were a drill Sargeant after all, Luna. Now your a peace-loving octoling who just wants to just kick back and relax, you've done a complete 360," sneered Indigo.

"That was before I saw how Octavio treated his soldiers! We were all expendable and discarded once we failed to stop that squidbeak agent from getting the zapfish back. I lost many soldiers and Octavio didn't care one bit," said a fuming Luna.

"We all felt that way, Luna, It's ok but now we have to worry about war again," said Indigo.

"You mean they do, I don't think peace will ever happen between the two races," sneered Luna.

"I think their will be," said Indigo.

"How do you figure," replied Luna.

"The human," said Indigo.

"The human? But they're extinct, what are you going on about," said Luna raising an eyebrow.

"No, there's one still alive and he happens to be friends with the inklings. He came out of a metal pod that was dug up by the inklings and somehow survived all this time. This human may be able to establish peace among the races since it seems both the inklings and octolings have always been fascinated by them and their technology," said Indigo.

"You sure this human exists? I mean we used to talk about them in fairy tales and all, especially the promised land if it exists too," said Luna.

"yes, he is very real," said Indigo.

"He? It's a male," said a slightly stunned Luna.

"I'll talk more about it another time and what I've gathered his name is Blake," responded Indigo as the two of them ended the conversation and headed further in the village. The Outcast Village as it was called was founded by octolings and octarians that either were casted out or deserted the octarian army during Octavio's rule. They built the village of what resources they had and formed a community taking in more outcasts and deserters that never left for the surface when Octavio was finally stopped. They changed their color to purple as a sign of solidarity against Octavio's color which was red. Things would overtime prove that the outcasts would soon rid themselves out of warfare and into a peaceful environment coping with the idea of a coming promise land.

* * *

Far away across the ocean, two figures could be seen walking into what looked like some kind of camp established in a large city square. The figures were two armed humans by the name of Flint and Stone. The two of them walked over to a large army tent and walked inside. They saw a group of young men huddled around a table with a map in the center of it going over battle plans. "Right now, we haven't gotten attacked in nearly a week, we can assume they're up to something. The attacks have been committed by small numbered forces, I think they're trying to figure out our vulnerabilities and how we react to their skirmishes. Expect their forces to grow and utilize heavier weaponry," said one of the men.

"We can't hold them off much longer, our supplies are dwindling and it's only a matter of time until they get inside the walls," said one of the men.

"I know that. we have to think of another strategy, all we can do is prepare for any attacks and strengthen our defenses," said the first male.

"How much longer do you expect us to hold out, I say we evacuate and make our move to the east while their's no attacks right now," said another male.

"We'll just make ourselves an easy target plus I'm sure they have spies watching the walls waiting for us to vacate. We'll be vulnerable outside the wall and easy pickings, it would be suicide!" shouted the first male.

"You have a better idea!" shouted the second.

"Enough! As of now all we can do is hold them off until we can think of a better solution. Right now the walls are the only thing that's keeping them out!" exclaimed the first male.

Stone had cleared his throat as he got the attention of the men inside the tent. "Oh...it's you two, what do you want?" sneered the male.

"We're done with our shift and awaiting further orders," said Stone.

"(sigh) I guess you two are relieved from duty, go get something to eat," said Marcus.

"Awesome, I'm starving, let's go Stone," said Flint as he left the tent. Stone shook his head and followed Flint out of the tent and toward the mess hall tent.

"(deep breath) Idiots" remarked Marcus.

Flint and Stone headed over to the mess hall tent and grabbed some food. Some fruit and a bowl of stew. They sat next to a campfire and ate their dinner. As the two of them were eating a figure approached them. "Wonder how much longer Marcus is gonna keep us pinned up behind these walls," sneered the figure.

"Not sure, all I can say is they better come up with a plan soon. We've lost too many of our people," said Stone.

"Well, we're not gonna last much longer, I can tell you that for a fact," said the male that had approached them.

"Dude, I'm not gonna worry about it, as long as we're behind the walls, we're safe. I just wanna enjoy my dinner right now, haven't eaten all day," said Flint.

"Flint, you freakin' idiot. As you heard them say in the tent, we don't know how much longer we can hold them back. We're biding time right now and I don't know how you fail to see that," said Stone as he smacked Stone in the back of his head, almost spilling his food.

"Well, I'm gonna let you guys go. I might talk to Deacon about this of Marcus fails to see reason," said the man as he walked away.

"Glad he left, now I can eat, after someone almost spilled my food!" exclaimed Flint in irritation. Stone shook his head again and started eating.

Stone had finally finished his stew and wiped the apple he had gotten before biting into it. "So I wonder why the big pow-wow in the tent. I mean we've been at this for a while now unless there's they're not telling us," said Stone as he was chewing on the apple.

"I'm not sure, seems Marcus is pretty concerned. I know he doesn't want to leave the sanctuary but we may have no choice. It's just a matter of time at the rate we're going," replied Stone as he finished his meal.

"Seems like humanity is on the verge of extinction again, between them and the virus that's killing us off," said Flint in depression.

"I don't wanna dwell on it, I just wanna stay focused on defending the sanctuary and protecting everyone," said Stone as he bit into his apple.

After 10 minutes passed by the two of them just say near the fire having a discussion about the events of today and spotted Marcus walking out of a tent and heading off somewhere. "Isn't that Marcus?" asked Flint.

"Yeah, he's seemed down more than usual," said Stone.

"I say let's follow him," said Flint as he got up.

"What, how he feels toward us, I don't think that would be a good idea," said Stone.

"C'mon," waved Flint as Stone got up and moaned not wanting to follow Marcus.

Marcus walked over to a hospital tent where people were being treated, unknown to him, he was being followed by Flint and Stone. He walked inside and saw numerous patients being treated by nurses and doctors but on the far end, he was counting the body bags as they were being carried out. "Marcus, what brings you here?" asked one of the doctors.

"Hey, Doc, how bad is it?" he asked.

"Right now, we're doing our best but the virus is steadily mutating and we can only treat our patients. I pray that things get better, we've already lost 50 people within a week, explained the doctor.

"(sigh) I hate to hear that, I'm sorry for your troubles," said Marcus.

"It's fine, I'm...sorry we couldn't save your sister," said the doctor sadly. Marcus remained silent as both anger and sorrow filled his thoughts to the loss of his sister to the virus. "You did your best," replied Marcus.

"I know...she was the only family member you had left, it's truly saddening about what happened to your parents before you came here," said the doctor.

Marcus downed his head and turned away out of the tent. Flint and Stone hurried to find cover to stay out of sight. Marcus headed off to the graveyard behind the settlement with Flint and Stone in tow. The graveyard was littered with markers and crosses from victims of the fighting and the life-taking virus that was plaguing what was left of humanity. Marcus came across a gravestone with his sister's name etched in it. He kneeled down and prayed over her grave. Afterward, he remained over her grave and placed his hand on the stone.

"Oh, Misty how I miss you and your smile...I just wish...I could've done more, I wish I could've saved you but I..." said Marcus as he broke down crying over her gravestone.

Flint and Stone watched seeing Marcus cry over his sister's death. "I've never seen Marcus like this, I didn't know about his sister," said Stone.

"Poor bastard, I feel sorry for him, I don't blame him for acting the way that he does," said Flint.

"Let's head back to the camp. I can bear it anymore, he deserves our respect and we've just been messing around," said Stone.

"Yeah, I had no idea. C'mon let's go then," said Flint as the two of them left the graveyard. They looked back at Marcus and felt deep sympathy for him even though he was a total jerk to them all the time not realizing that he had so much on his plate. The night went by and the humans stayed on guard worrying that they might get attacked anytime by the threat that would jeopardize their survival.


	61. Another Storm Notice

**Storm Notice**

To all readers, like Hurrican Laura, I will possibly be out of power again for an unknown amount of time and unable to get on fanfiction. Be prepared for any more chapters to not be released for a while. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but it is what it is. Pray that this won't be as bad as the last storm and my heart goes out to those who have not recovered and are about to endure more possible loss. God bless and stay safe. Appreciate everyone.


	62. Chapter 62

**I'm Back**

Praise the Lord we got electricity again. Sorry for the inconvenience everyone. Thank God we didn't get as much damage from this storm and I pray we don't get anymore. I'll try to speed things up by releasing the next chapters to make up for lost time. Again I'm sorry. My state is slowly recovering from both storms and I just everyone made it again. #Louisianastrong.


	63. Arc 3 Chapter 15

**Arc 3 Chapter 15**

It was over 2 years ago. Deep in Octo Valley, a group of octolings had gathered deep inside the base of the octarians in secrecy. They were standing around inside a large chamber surrounded by machinery and pipes being feed inside the base. The ceiling was lined with lights that were half-way lit. "Is everyone accounted for?" asked one octoling. The rest of the octolings and troopers nodded in response. "Good," she said. She turned toward an octostriker without its gear who was guarding the main doorway and gave it the signal to lock the door. It closed it and blocked the doorway before watching the group.

"We all know why we're here," said the elite who then took her goggles off. "We cannot stand for Octavio to rule over the octarian empire anymore. His actions have cost us many lives and not mention a retaliation from the inklings for taking the great zapfish. We have but only two options," said the elite with frustration.

The octolings and octarians looked at her with anticipation. "We keep fighting for Octavio knowing we may get killed in the process...or two...we attempt to stop Octavio and surrender knowing that we may get killed in the process as well...either way the odds are stacked against us," said the elite in defeat.

"Lieutenant Octillia if I may interject," replied an octoling in the group as she raised her hand.

"I'm listening sergeant Indigo," said the lieutenant.

"Yes ma'am...This may sound crazy but look at our options. I mean there has to be a third and I say there is. I believe we should make our way to the surface before it's too late or at least leave the valley. We can't fight the squidbeak agent or Octavio. I know it's desertion but what choice do we really have...getting killed!" shouted the sergeant.

"Sergeant Luna! I think you've been down in the lab for too long, what are we to do once we reach the surface? Do you honestly think the inklings will forget everything about what we've done. How will we survive? How I see it, that isn't even an option. Turning tentacle and running away from our problems and also abandoned our fellow octo kin. I will not," said the elite crossing her arms.

"Getting killed isn't much better! I'd rather take my chances!" shouted the sergeant.

"You'd best stand down sergeant! I'm the one who is leading this meeting and I say your option is out of the question. We need to vote on what should be done with our dire situation," said the lieutenant.

"Well, I won't! I say who's in favor of leaving the valley, raise their hand," said Indigo.

"I'm with you Luna. I'm not staying to get killed. I've watched enough of my brethren get splatted by that inkling already," said Sergeant Luna.

I majority of the troopers walked over toward Sergeants Indigo and Luna. Even the octostriker without its gear jumped behind the two octolings with a gargle. "If you're willing to pull such a cowardly move and take your chances topside then be my guest but I will not leave the rest of my people behind," said Octillia. She turned back to the rest of the group. "Who's in favor of fighting alongside Octavio?" asked the elite. No one put their hand up. "Very well, who's in favor of stopping Octavio and surrendering to the inklings?" asked the elite again. The octolings hesitantly raised their hands with the troopers hopping up and down to signal they were in favor.

"Very well...we've come to a decision, now let's think of a plan to do it," said the elite. After a moment an octoling regular burst through the door. "Lieutenant Octillia!" shouted the octoling.

"What the!" shouted the surprised elite. The group was frozen by the outburst of the octoling that ran through the door. "Wait...what's going on?" asked the regular who ran in.

"Explain yourself sergeant Maxie!" shouted the elite glaring back at the octoling.

"The...The squidbeak agent is in the base, she's already taken out the first line of defense. Octavio is calling on all reinforcements to stop the inkling," exclaimed the sergeant.

"We're out of time, looks like stopping Octavio may be off the table, damn it," said the elite quietly to herself.

"Stop...Octavio?" responded Maxie after hearing what Octillia had said.

"Nevermind, all soldiers to your battle stations!" commanded the lieutenant.

"We won't comply! troops! Let's get out of here! We're headed for the surface!" shouted Sergeant Indigo. Luna and the others followed her outside the chamber.

"What! That's mutiny! You'll be splatted before you reach..." shouted Maxie as she aimed her octoshot at the group but Octillia lowered her octoshot and shook her head. "Let them go," said the elite.

"What! But their traitors they should..." said Maxie as she was cut off. "Let...them...go, that's an order," said Octillia. The group of deserters left the chamber and vanished.

"What's going on?" asked Maxie.

"I'll explain everything sergeant," said the lieutenant as she gave her the details of the meeting and what should be done about the current situation. Maxie was stunned and uncertain about the lieutenant's actions but decided to listen with reason. She understood that her people were suffering and something needed to be done. She joined the lieutenant's entourage and they left the chamber to contemplate a plan to surrender to the inklings and hopefully form a peace treaty among the inklings before things got out of hand.

Meanwhile, the deserters watched the base from the ledge of a cliff overlooking their once home and lair of their ruler. "(sigh) so where do we go now?" asked Luna to Indigo.

"I don't really know, the words of Octillia is running through my head right now. She's...right. Going to the surface may be suicide but where else can we go?" asked Indigo.

"What about Octo canyon it was abandoned," said Luna.

"Without power, I don't know how we'll survive," replied Indigo.

"We'll think of something, we can't stay here," said Luna.

"You're right. We'll...head for the canyon then," said Indigo.

"What about your friend Marina?" asked Luna. "She was supposed to be at the meeting wasn't she?" asked Luna.

"I don't know why she didn't show up, maybe she didn't want to draw attention or risk us getting caught," said Indigo.

"I wonder...I hope she didn't back out," said Luna.

"She wouldn't! Something must've happened," said Indigo in defense.

"Well, I'm sorry she didn't make it, C'mon let's go," said Luna.

The troopers followed Luna away as Indigo continued to stare at the base. She pulled out a photo of her and Marina. "I hope you make to the surface Marina. You've always said that you wanted to. I wish you the best of luck old friend," said Indigo as she put the photo away and caught up to the rest of the group. They headed for Octo Canyon where they would form the Octo Outcasts and a community that would take in and house any octarians that abandoned the army or couldn't make it to the surface. Over time, the village would grow and thrive from the octarians that would come together and create their own power source left behind by the evacuations of the canyon from the great power outage from years ago.

* * *

Blake had made it back to Octo Canyon, still not fully recovered and without Marie's consent. He wasn't sure where to start or how to find Tentacle Towers where the sergeant was being held. He was back in the first dome that held three tea kettles. He would not go into the first tea kettle he had been shot through and took his chances to head over to the kettle on the far right. Izzy had gone through the other kettle so he assumed the last kettle was his best option. He opened the lid and jeered from the pain of his wounds as he did and shot through once he got inside it.

Once he made it to the next kettle he jumped out feeling nauseated as he stumbled getting his footing. The ride also irritated his wounds as he felt sorer than before. "I'll never get over that," he said regaining his composure. Blake walked toward the ledge of a platform the kettle was sitting on. He looked down and saw a large empty city sitting on the bottom of the dome. "What is this place?" he said to himself as he gawked at the abandoned city.

He saw more platforms ahead floating in the air leading toward the city. He followed the hovering platforms onward remembering he had no weapon to combat the octo rebels. He had to be mindful of his surroundings and try to avoid any threats he came across. It would be nearly an hour before he got to the city and he did his best to avoid any attention.

Meanwhile, Marie was rushing to get her hero suit on and grabbed a tank and her charger. She pressed her headset to get in contact with Sheldon.

"Sheldon!, this is Agent 2, I'm going after Blake before he gets killed, He left sometime this morning back to Octo Canyon," she said.

"What! But you're supposed to stay on Mt. Nantai, what about Izzy...I mean agent 4?" exclaimed Sheldon.

"right now, I'm concerned about Blake. Going on ahead without a weapon, he should have known better, that...that...," said a flustered Marie.

"Marie, I haven't heard you get this worked up in a while. Did you and Blake have words last night or something?" asked Sheldon.

"Now's not the time, Sheldon. Just get that drone thing in the air and keep an eye on Blake. I'm going to see if I can catch up to him," said Marie.

"Marie, what happened? Did you let know Blake how you felt towards him?" asked Sheldon.

Marie went silent for a moment before Sheldon called her name again. "Marie?" he asked.

"(sigh) yeah...I did," responded Marie.

"And..." responded back Sheldon.

"He...didn't feel mutual is all I can say," said Marie. "But he did consider me and Cal family and I guess that's all that matters, I still love him though," she continued.

"Well, if he sees you two as family then I wouldn't be saddened over it. Consider this your the only family he has right now," said Sheldon.

"You're right Sheldon, I shouldn't get bent over backward over it. He's been there for us and we've been there for him. I guess we really are family," said Marie.

"That's the spirit, now I guess you better get going. I'm sending the drone out to his last location and I'll see if I can send him a weapon. I've been working on a new one that I'd love for him to try out," said Sheldon.

"Well, let's hope he's not too far out before any of those octopi run into him. I'm heading to the kettle now, wish me luck, Sheldon," said Marie as she headed over to the kettle Blake jumped in and shot through.

Back in Octo Canyon, Blake managed to get inside the city. The streets were vacant as not a soul was in sight. He headed up the street still on guard, hoping he wouldn't run into any octarians on his way to save the octoling sergeant. Walking through block after block he saw a lot of anti-inkling posters taped to the walls of the surrounding buildings and blowing across the street from the breeze that was pushing between the buildings.

He was starting to feel lost and stopped to take a breather as he leaned up against the wall of a building. After several seconds he heard an approaching noise, it hummed and as it got closer it started to sound like a vacuum cleaner. He spotted a dumpster and jumped in it before he was spotted by whatever was approaching. The noise got louder as Blake peeked out of the dumpster lifting the lid and saw what looked like a giant metal fish crawling on the street. It was sucking up any ink and trash that lying on the ground. It scurred past the dumpster Blake was in and kept going down the street.

"What was that thing?" he asked himself as he stared at the giant metal fish. It turned around the corner and was out of sight. He hopped out of the dumpster and brushed himself and continued in the direction it came from. After a few more later he spotted a patrol of octotroopers and octolings walking down the street. "Crap, how do I get past them without a weapon," said Blake quietly. He turned and decided to head down an alley near him to avoid detection hoping to get around them. He ran down the alleyway and knocked a trash can over. One of the octolings heard it and spotted a figure running around the corner at the bend of the alley.

"What was that?" she said. She turned to another octoling. "I saw something head down that alleyway we need to check it out," said the first octoling. The other nodded and the two octo formed and followed after Blake.

Blake saw the other end of the alleyway but was blocked off by a chained gate. "Shoot, what now," he said. He ran up to the gate and attempted to climb but had no luck. "I need something to stand on," he said to himself. He grabbed an overturned trash can and set it down near the gate hoping it would boost him up but soon the octolings made it around the corned and formed back. They spotted Blake climbing on the trash can. "Look! A squidbeak agent! Get him!" shouted the octoling.

Blake turned and saw the octolings but he was shot in the back by their octoshot. He yelped and fell back as the octolings rushed toward him with their guns drawn on him. "Don't move you..." shouted the octoling but froze at Blake's appearance. "What the shell...what are you, you're not an inkling!" shouted the stunned octoling who still had here weapon on Blake.

"No...I'm not," jeered Blake in pain as he gritted his teeth from the pain. He attempted to get up but was hit with the octoshot from the other octoling. He was knocked back and laid on the ground as the two octolings loomed over him. "This must the human, I've been hearing about...we're in luck, we need to get a hold of the major right away," said the octoling.

"Wait a minute," said the other as she held her hand out. "How about we hold on for a moment, I have an idea," she continued. The other octoling gave her a suspicious look wondering what she was up to.

"What kind of idea?" asked the octoling.

"Well, we've both been under a lot of stress with all this patrolling and junk. I say we have some fun before we hand him over to the major," said the octoling.

"Fun? What are you...you can't be serious!" shouted the appalled octoling as she saw a grin come across the other's face. "(deep sigh) fiiinnne... I have been out of it lately, shoot lets do it," said the octoling. Blake gulped fearing what the octolings had in mind for him before he was dragged by the two octolings. Blake was hemmed against the wall in the small courtyard by one of the octolings while the other aimed her weapon at him.

"Me first, since it was my idea," said the first octoling who was bracing Blake against the wall. She whipped out her knife and placed it against Bake's neck. "Hold still human, this will be all over soon," she said.

"W...W...What are going to do to me?" asked a scarred Blake.

"Oh, nothing, just a little fun, but if you try anything don't think we won't hurt you," said the octoling. She ran the knife down Blake's torso and downward toward his crouch. Blake feared what was about to happen and could only pray something would stop this. "Please don't do this!" pleaded Blake.

"quiet fossil! I need a little stress relief," she sneered. She holstered her knife and started unzipping Blake's black cargo shorts as the other octoling still had her octoshot on the human. "Don't try anything!" she commanded. The other octoling stopped and something popped in her mind. She stared back at Blake as grin came across her face. "You know what...I like the other position better!" she said as she grabbed Blake and threw him to the ground behind her. Blake yelped feeling the pain from the wound and knew what the octoling was about to do what make matters much worse.

"Make your mind up already! I'm getting tired of waiting and holding this weapon!" shouted the second octoling before growling at the other.

"Keep your tentacles on! I just wanna savor this moment. you'll get your turn," said the first octoling.

Blake looked at the octoling with displeasure before she pounced on him. She yanked down on Blake's shorts as he struggled with her to keep them on. She got irritated and punched Blake right in the face temporarily dazing him. She then continued before she took her belt off and started slipping her shorts off. Blake blinked and squinted toward a flash of light emitting from on top of a building across from where the gate was.

"Hurry up!" shouted the octoling with the octoshot on Blake.

"Shut it and let me have my fun!" jeered the octoling on top of Blake.

Blake didn't have the strength to shove the octoling off him as she pinned him down. She gave him a devious grin before committing the heinous act but all of a sudden a shot could be heard and the octoling's eyes rolled back and her head went limp before bursting into ink. The other octoling's jaw dropped and her eyes widened behind the googles she was wearing. She turned toward the direction of the shot but it was too late. Another beam of ink flew toward the octoling hitting her right in the face. She fell back and burst into ink once she hit the ground.

Blake gave a deep breath of relief before he pulled his shorts back up and slowly got off the ground. A loud splash could be heard and a squid landed in front of Blake in a splash of lime-green ink. The figure changed back and it was none other than Marie. "Marie! W...What are doing here!? Was that you that shot those two?" asked Blake in great relief as he zipped up his pants.

Marie had a displeased look on her face from what those octolings were about to do to him and the simple fact he took off without a weapon. "I wouldn't stand by and allow those two... octopi just have their way with you, I can't believe they would stoop that low, how degrading. I'm glad I came in time like I did and as for you!" said Marie in an angered tone as she glared at Blake.

Blake was not looking forward to the ass chewing he was about to get from Marie. She held her arm out and slapped Blake as hard as he could almost knocking him over. He yelped from the hit and rubbed his cheek which left a red handprint. "That's for running off like you did. That was a stupid move to just leave without me briefing you, not resting from your wounds, and especially not having a weapon! You could've been killed! If I hadn't decided to go after you those two would've or worse!" shouted Marie still displeased with Blake's actions.

Blake had tears forming in his eyes and Marie's anger started to recede. "(sigh) Blake...I'm sorry I unloaded on you like that but I don't what me and Cal would do if you lost you. How gramps would react especially with you being my responsibility. Rash decision making could get you killed out in the field. You should've stayed behind back at Mt. Nantai, I..." said Marie as she cut herself off with conflicting emotions starting to stew in her mind.

"I'm...sorry Marie, you're right...I shouldn't have run off like that. It was a foolish thing that I did and if you hadn't come along..." said Blake as he was cut off by Marie.

"It's ink under the bridge now, let's just continue the mission," said Marie as Blake nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I've talked with Sheldon already. He's seeing if he can get you another weapon. For right now I'll provide overwatch ahead of you so you don't get caught. I believe I saw Tentacle Towers further down the street a ways. We'll rescue that octoling and see if she can get us to the octo rebel base and rescue Callie. I'll see where Izzy's at too and hopefully we can meet one another before we get there. It's going to take all of us to get Cal back as well as the great zapfish from Octavio's clutches," said Marie.

Marie was about to squid jump back onto the buildings when Blake cried out for her. "Marie! Thanks for saving me back there," he said.

She turned and smiled at him. "Don't expect to save your butt every time, like a said, stay out of sight if you can," said Marie as she squid jumped on top of a building with her charger.

Blake recomposed himself with thoughts about Marie's actions running through his head wondering if he really saved him because of her feelings for him. he focused back on climbing over the gate and getting back to the street hoping to not get in another predicament like he did. The two continued on toward Tentacle Towers with Marie sneaking on top of the buildings and with Blake on the street level as avoiding detection.

* * *

Octavio was in the center of a large arena surrounded by stands and a pool of purple ink down below. He was towering over a similar figure that was in a revealing spandex outfit wearing what looked like shades over their eyes. She had black and Magenta tentacles tied up on her head and she had a magenta-colored octopus tattoo on the side of her stomach. Two other octolings were standing on each side of her as they looked at Octavio.

"How have the test been?" asked Octavio.

"We're seeing improvements, sir, she is starting to follow every command we've given her," replied one of the octolings.

"Well done squirts, once the attack on Inkopolis commences I will use her voice to hypnotize the inklings and they will soon follow my commands as well. The irony that a squid sister the inkstains cherish so much will bring their downfall. Let's see how much of a performance they will enjoy once we get into places and bring an utter end to those hipsters and their glorious city. No one will stop us and the octarians will finally rule the surface!" sneered Octavio.

"Y...You're...wrong..." mumbled Callie.

"What was that?" asked Octavio as he glared at the squid sister.

"B...Blake will stop you..." she tried getting her statement out.

"You think so, huh? Well I have something planned for that bonehead and you're going to help me," sneered Octavio.

"I...I...I'll...NEVER HELP YOU!" yelled Callie.

"Oh really," responded Octavio as he pushed a button on his DJ booth. The hypnoshades shocked Callie as she cried in pain and kneeled down. "I won't stand for any insubordination! Get her out of here and make sure she will be obedient and follow every command!" ordered Octavio.

The octolings nodded and restrained her. They took her out of the arena area and placed her back into the secured room and sedated her on the bed.

"Looks like she needs more work," said the octoling.

"We'll turn up the frequency on the hypnoshades before the attack commences, more sedation may help her lose her will, we'll see," said the second octoling as they both left the room.

Callie started crying as she slowly fell asleep from the drug. She began to drift off and wanted to go back to her cousin and friends. Everything blurred and faded for a moment until all she could see was a bright white light that surrounded her. She could hear footsteps followed by the sound of a door opening. Her vision cleared and she saw multiple inklings sitting in benches dressed for a ceremony. She looked around as the crowd of inklings turned and looked at her with Marie beside her as they walked down an aisle. Further towards the large hall was Cuttlefish and Blake standing beside what appeared to be a jellyfish in a suit between them.

Cuttlefish was still wearing his old uniform but Blake was wearing a groom's black suit with a magenta-colored rose clipped on it. He had his arms down to his waist and seemed like he was hiding his nervousness as he twiddled his thumbs. "Well, Callie this your big day, and I think you'll make your folks proud," said Marie as they were at the rear of the aisle. The inklings started clapping as Callie nodded and slowly made her way to the front.

"Well, Bucko, you nervous," asked Cuttlefish to Blake.

"Just a little, Are you sure you're ok with this captain," asked Blake.

"I'm honored you would marry my grandsquid, lad, you've been by my side since before the great turf war Bucko and you've been like family to me and my grandsquids ever since," said Cuttlefish as he placed his hand on Blake's shoulder.

"Thanks, captain, I love Callie and I just wanna see her happy," said Blake as he bent down and hugged Cuttlefish. As Calle and Marie neared the front. Blake and Cuttlefish pulled away and faced the two squid sisters. The jellyfish in the suit cleared his throat as Cuttlefish and Blake got into their positions.

Callie stepped forward with Marie standing behind her. "Callie, you look great," said Blake. Callie blushed and smiled at him. "You too, Blake, I love you and I've never been happier," said Callie.

"Will the groom and bride please step forward," asked the jellyfish.

The two of them stood by one another facing the jellyfish justice-of-the-peace.

Marie got beside Callie while Cuttlefish got beside Blake. They handed the two their rings in a small box for the wedding ceremony. The two of them took the rings out and presented them to each other. They both held one another's hands and gave each other a smile. "If we are ready to proceed then let's begin you two," said the jellyfish.

The wedding ceremonial music started and everyone quieted down to watch the wedding between the squid sister and the human.

"We're here to today to marry these two lovers that they may both live happily, through the best of times and worst of times. May their bond with one another fast for the rest of their lives and cherish the memories they will make with one another. Does anyone object to these young lovers from marrying?" asked the jellyfish.

"Very well then, (clearing throat) let's begin the ceremony then," said the jellyfish. Callie and Blake turned and looked toward the Jellyfish as Marie and Cuttlefish moved toward the front away from the two.

"Do you Callie take Blake to be your lawfully wedded husband?" asked the Jellyfish. "I do," said Callie as she turned back to Blake holding his hands.

"Do you Blake take Callie to be your lawfully wedded wife?" asked the Jellyfish. "I do," said Blake still looking at Callie.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may now kiss the bride," said the jellyfish as Blake uncovered the veil off Callie's face and kissed her on the lips for several seconds. The inklings cheered as Cuttlefish wiped a tear from his eye and Marie started to cry. "I'm the happiest squid in the world, oh Blake I love you," said Callie with tears in her eyes.

"Me too, Cal," said Blake as he hugged Callie. Callie had her head rested on Blake's shoulder for a moment until the room started to turn dark. The inklings stopped cheering and clapping. The room turned ominous as Cuttlefish scanned around and Marie's expression turned from joyous to deep concern. Something was wrong as Callie and Blake pulled off from one another. "What's going on?" asked Callie in distress. Soon a black puddle of ink appeared underneath Blake.

"W...What's going, Callie," asked a distressed Blake.

"Blake!" shouted Callie.

Soon black octopus tentacles popped out of the ink puddle and grabbed Blake as they pulled him down. "Callie!" he shouted.

"Blake hold on!" she shouted back as she grabbed his hands.

The inklings were frozen in fear and didn't know what to do as Cuttlefish and Marie rushed over to help Callie pull on Blake. "Bucko! Don't let go!" shouted Cuttlefish as he and Marie had a hold of Callie.

Blake saw he was halfway down inside the ink puddle and feared the there of them would get pulled down with him. "Callie," said Blake. Callie looked back at Blake with fear of losing him. "I love you...but you have to let go! I don't you getting dragged down either!" said Blake.

"No! I won't let go of you!" shouted Callie.

"I'm sorry Cal, but if you don't then I will," said Blake as he was nearly consumed by the puddle as the tentacles steadily pulled him down.

"Blake No!" shouted Callie as tears formed.

Blake broke his grasp with Callie and finally got pulled into the black ink. "BLAAAKKKE!" cried Callie. The black puddle shrunk and disappeared with the inklings still looking in horror and despair. Callie fell over with Cuttlefish and Marie where the puddle was. Callie rose up and pounded on the floor. "Blake! BLAAAKKKE!" she shouted.

NOOOO! BLAKE!" she cried again as she wept over losing her human lover to the black tentacles that grabbed him. She cried on the floor with Marie and Cuttlefish rushing over to console her. They hugged her as the crowd of inklings surrounded them with deep empathy for what had happened. The dream ended and Callie's will over the hypnoshades was broken. The squid sister was under the total influence of the hypnoshades and forgot about Blake, Marie, Cuttlefish, and her friends.

* * *

Cassie, Cuttlefish, and Cleo were still riding the subway to the hub, the first station they would get off at. Cleo had her headsets in listening to music and sleeping at the same time. Cuttlefish had soon dozed off not too long after she did. Cassie was looking around and then toward Cuttlefish. She gave a sigh and decided to wake up Cleo. The inkling agent had many questions she wanted to ask Cleo before they got to the hub and walked over and tapped Cleo on the shoulder. Cleo stirred and gave a yawn. She saw Cassie standing in front of her and took off her headset.

"We there already?" asked Cleo rubbing her eyes.

"Um, no...I...had some questions before we get there," replied Cassie.

"Yeah what is it?" she asked.

"No offense but I don't think you've been completely truthful to me and Cuttlefish," said Cassie.

"What do you mean? I lead you down here didn't I, why the suspicion all of a sudden?" asked Cleo with an eyebrow raised.

"It's just you're being awfully helpful and just barging in back at the lighthouse with your weapon drawn on us like that. You seemed like you didn't want us here," said Cassie.

"Look I didn't want you and the old geezer getting involved. This is my problem you wouldn't understand," said Cleo.

"Oh, I understand perfectly. I hope you're not leading me and Cuttlefish into a trap, because if you are, I'll make sure you won't leave this place either," said Cassie as she glared at Cleo with her eyes narrowed.

"Is that a threat. I leave the hospital to stop you too, only to be pressured into bringing you down here and now you think I'm putting you in danger! To think I looked up to squidbeak. I'm forever grateful that you guys rescued me from Camper but don't think I'm going to let you treat me like a criminal or something because I'm working for Kamabo. Like I told you before I don't know much about them either and once we get to the hub you can find out the answers for yourself because I'm not going to help someone who thinks I'm a two-faced squid!" exclaimed an angered Cleo as she stood up and glared back at Cassie.

Cassie's suspicion resolved and she looked back at the angry Cleo. "(sigh) you're right...I'm sorry, that was wrong of me to say that," said Cassie apologizing to Cleo. Cleo crossed her arms and soon her anger was dissipating. "Do you forgive me, It's just I'm leery about all this. This subway, Kamabo, the photo and book back at the lighthouse," said Cassie.

"It's ok, I guess I don't blame you for thinking like that, look I'll help you and the old squid once we get to the hub," said Cleo. She extended her hand out to the agent and they both shook and put their differences aside. The door opened to the subway car and C. Q. Cumber crawled toward the two inkling girls. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"Um, no, just having a peaceful conversation," said Cleo.

"Well, we'll be coming up on the hub soon. So prepare to get off and Cleo I want you to guide them through the hub. So they don't get lost," said the sea pig.

"No problem, that's what I planned on doing the first place," said Cleo.

"oh, then I hope you folks had enjoyed the trip then," said C. Q. Cumber as he left back to the other car.

"I guess I better wake up the old squid then," said Cassie.

"Yeah, I admit that I'm worrisome about this place myself. I've only been to the hub and nowhere else. The other stations I haven't been to; only that they're reserved for the "subjects", whatever that means," said Cleo.

"Subjects, that's odd, maybe we'll find out when we get there," said Cassie.

"I hope so," said Cleo as she sat back down.

Cassie stared at Cleo for a moment before heading over to wake up Cuttlefish. An intercom came on: now arriving at the hub, prepare to stop," it said which jarred the old squid awake. "Huh! What'd I miss?!" shouted Cuttlefish in surprise.

Cassie turned toward Cuttlefish who was wide awake from the intercom. Cleo got back up as the doors slid open. "Well we're here you two," she said as she walked out.

"Well, Cuttlefish, hopefully, we'll get to the bottom of this," said Cassie.

"I hope so, lass, I'm not liking this place at all," said Cuttlefish.

The two soon got out and looked around at the hub station. There were neon lights and signs around the wall. What looked like a large kiosk was ahead that said information on the top of it in human language which the three couldn't read. Guard rails surrounded the large area and the floor had arrows and other directing writing on it which they couldn't read either. Cleo walked over to the directory and slid the card into the reader by the doors. The light turned green and the doors unlocked.

"Well, you two coming?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're right behind you," said Cassie.

Cuttlefish grabbed Cassie's arm as she started to move forward. "Agent 3," he said.

"What is it Captain?" she asked.

"Let's be mindful, we don't know anything about this place or this Kamabo company. That gal has been a little too helpful, we don't know what she could be planning. If you remember, she didn't want us finding this place," said Cuttlefish leery.

"I know, (sigh) I just hope that's not what she's doing. I say we give her some slack...for now until we figure out what's going on," said Cassie.

The two of them soon follow Cleo into the directory as the doors closed and locked behind them unsure what they had just walked into putting their faith into the inkling that they rescued and had acted as a guide for them.


	64. Arc 3 Chapter 16

**Arc 3 Chapter 16**

Izzy was asleep under a tree in one of the underground domes she had arrived at the day prior, she had recently defeated the Octo-Samurai and grabbed the zapfish from the power station. Soon rumbling could be heard waking the inkling girl as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What's all that noise?" she asked herself. She got up and turned toward the source of the rumbling and around the corner past the ledge of the landmass she was on. She could see multiple octozeppelins move toward her.

"What's going on!" she exclaimed watching the octozeppelins get into formation. The octozepeelins hovered next to each and were readying for the assault on inkopolis and eventually Octo Valley. One last Octozeppelin hovered over the others which was 3 times bigger than the rest and had a large gondola underneath where the crew commanded the fleet of octozeppelins. This was the command octozeppelin which was being piloted by the scar-faced elite that had lost a piece of her tentacle to Sergeant Maxie back on the saltspray rig.

The major got on the microphone and soon gave an announcement. "This is Major Octsana! All octozeppelins in formation, prepare for the assault on Inkopolis. Octavio has ordered us to reclaim the surface and take back what rightfully belongs to us! The inklings will soon know the wrath of the octarians and will regret ever driving us underground. Everyone to your stations!" commanded the elite in the command octozeppelin.

Izzy watched the top of the dome open up revealing a tunnel that lead up to the surface of the canyon where the octozeppelins would fly out and storm the unexpected city. "Oh No! They're going to attack Inkopolis! I gotta do something!" shouted Izzy. She placed her hand on her headset. "Agent 2! Sheldon! Come in!... Agent 2! Please answer!" exclaimed Izzy but got no response.

She looked back at the octozeppelins which were starting to ascend and she had to do something fast. She spotted an ink dispenser for a ride rail and shot it. The ink rail shot up toward the octozeppelins and Izzy hopped on. "I hope I can stop them in time!" she said.

Meantime, on the command octozeppelin the major was watching the octozeppelins start to ascend up the large opening above. Soon a large octarian sporting sunglasses and a black beret on its tentacle walked behind the major with her arms crossed behind her back. "Ma'am," saluted the octarian. The elite turned around and faced the tall octarian.

"Yes, what is it Octocommander?" she asked.

"My octotroopers and paratroopers are ready and prepped for the attack. We are awaiting any further orders before we get to the surface," said the octocommander.

"As of now the orders still stand. Just ensure those tentacles make it out of the octozeppelins and cover fire for them if we should run into any resistance along the way. As far as I know, the inkling naval forces are going to be blockading the valley while we head for their vulnerable city," sneered the major.

"Yes ma'am I will head to my post and take care of any threats to the octozeppelins," saluted the octocommander as he walked away.

The elite turned around and watched the octozeppelins lift up but something soon caught her eye. Something was headed toward the first octozeppelin and continued watching the figure riding up a rail of ink. "Whta is that?" asked the major to herself.

Izzy was riding up the ink rail toward a platform with another dispenser and shot it. Another ride rail shot out, leading closer to the octozeppelins. As she got closer she spotted some octocopters hovering around the octozeppelins but this time that had jets attached to their rotor helmets making them faster as they spotted Izzy. Izzy shot at them but they quickly evaded Izzy's ink with the rocket boosters attached to them. "Oh, Carp! I can't hit them!" she shouted before one lobbed a splat bomb at her. Izzy jumped over it and back on the riderail.

"Inkling! Splat her before she reaches the fleet!" shouted one of the jet octocopters.

Izzy focused on the jet-propelled octocopter and splatted it before it dodged the shot. Izzy shot at more jet octocopters with a couple of shots before finally splatting them. She finally made it to another platform near one the octozeppelins. She squid jumped and landed on top of the first one. Soon a hatch opened up and octotroopers hopped up in an attempt to stop the inkling agent.

"Get the inkling!" one shouted.

Izzy covered the top of the zeppelin with ink. Jumping out and dodging any of the octotrooper attacks until she splatted all of them. She soon spotted a large tentacle erecting out of the top of the hatch where the octotroopers came out of and shot at it. It spewed purple ink and the zeppelin started to descend down to the bottom of the dome.

The major witnessed what had happened and pounded the control panel. She bared her fangs and quickly grabbed the microphone. "STOP THAT INKSTAIN AT ALL COST! ALL OCTARIANS FOCUS ON THAT LITTLE PEST!" she shouted over the intercom. The octocommander from before hopped on a stool-like platform and placed what looked like a minigun over its mouth. It lifted up on top of the command octozeppelin and aimed at the agent.

Izzy squid jumped to another platform and watched the octozeppelin crash down and explode into an enormous burst of octarian ink. "Whoa! That was AWESOME!" she yelled as she jumped up. octarian ink shot past her as she turned and looked. Another octozeppelin was headed toward her and she spotted another riderail dispenser. She shot it and she rode it toward the next platform which would take her to the second zeppelin.

She made it to the second zeppelin and squid jumped on top of it. Like before octotroopers poured out of the hatch on top of the zeppelin and attacked Izzy. A few of them had shields in front of them and Izzy had to utilize a splat bomb to take them out. Once she did, she shot at the tentacle popping out of the hatch and the second octozepplein descended like the first one.

The major was fuming watching the second octozepplin fall and feared if the inkling kept it up, their fleet would be defeated and the operations put to an end. "SEND OUT THE JET OCTOSTRIKERS! NOW!" she shouted. The hatch at the back of the gondola of the command octozeppelin opened and three jet-propelled octostrikers flew out and headed toward Izzy.

She jumped down on another platform and spotted the jet-powered octostrikers headed toward her. "Oh no, Octostrikers!" she shouted. "I hope Marie and Sheldon are keeping tabs on what's going on, I don't know how much more I do this, I'm starting to run low on ink," said Izzy.

One of the octostrikers fired a missile toward Izzy and struck the platform knocking her off as she grabbed a hold of the ledge. She pulled herself up and shot at another dispenser and rode the ink rail to its next location. The octostrikers launched more missiles at Izzy missing her as she jumped over one just in time before getting to the next platform. One of the octosrikers hovered over the riderail in an attempt to stop her. Izzy shot at the octostriker but it easily evaded her using it's jets and Izzy passed it up to the next platform. The third octozeppelin was moving in on Izzy as the octostrikers came in from the other side. Izzy got ready to squid jump.

"Oh no you don't squid!" shouted one of the octostrikers as it launched a missile at Izzy. Izzy squid formed and jumped but the blast knocked her projection off and she tumbled in mid flight. She luckily landed on top of the zeppelin but hard as she got knocked around from the landing. She laid motionless on her stomach on top of the octozeppelin as more octotroopers and the octostrikers moved in on her.

"Your time is up inkstain! Give up while you can!" sneered a twintacle as it approached Izzy from the crowd of octotroopers.

She started to pick herself up and saw that she was surrounded by the octarians. It seemed her winning streak has finally come to an end.

* * *

Back in Octo Valley, the lieutenant was lying on a bed in the infirmary. She had gotten shot from the octo rebels that infiltrated and raided the research facility the early morning prior. It had been hours since she was treated for her wounds. An octoling walked in as the lieutenant slowly opened her eyes. "Where...am I?" the lieutenant asked.

She turned to a figure standing beside her and saw that it was Ruby the head researcher. "Ruby?" she asked.

"Yes, and I'm glad you're slowly recovering. Any longer and you wouldn't be here talking to me. That was quite a rescue mission back there at the labs. I'm just glad you made it," said the octoling in the lab coat.

"How're the others? What about the rebels?" she asked as she attempted to sit up. She clinched in pain but Ruby stopped her and helped her lay back down. "Everyone's fine, don't force yourself to get up. You still have much time to recover from the wounds," said Ruby. "As for the rebels, they've been taken into custody. The leader was treated after you were taken away. The other rebels are being interrogated, they've informed us about the attack on Inkopolis. We're getting our octozepplin fleet prepped and ready to intercept them and stop the attack before they start a war," said Ruby.

"(sigh) I should thank you, I'm so sorry that I've been harsh toward you lately. It's just that..." started the lieutenant.

"It's fine, as long as you're ok and the rebels are stopped...that's all that matters right now. Shoot, maybe we could head to the bar after this is all over with," said Ruby giving a chuckle. The lieutenant smiled and shook her head. "I would enjoy that, I could use a cold kelp ale, especially right now," said the lieutenant.

"Well, I wanted to check on you before I headed back to the lab," said Ruby.

The lieutenant remained quiet for a moment then turned back to the octoling. "What about the research?" she asked which stunned the octoling wondering why she would ask.

"What about it?" she replied.

"What more have you found out?" the lieutenant asked.

The octoling stared at her for a moment trying to contemplate how to explain what she and her team found but decided to hold off on it. "I'll let you know after you made a full recovery, It's going to be a little hard to explain unless you see it yourself," said the octoling researcher.

The lieutenant raised her eyebrow and just decided not to ask any more questions as she wanted to rest. Ruby soon walked out of the room and was met by an octoling doctor.

"Ruby? I thought you were at the research facility," said the doctor.

"No, I came to check on the lieutenant, how much longer will you think until she makes a full recovery?" asked Ruby.

"Well if it weren't for the tampered ink they shot at her, she would've recovered in no time but I'm banking on it being another day or two until she can leave the infirmary," replied the doctor.

"Those damn rebels, they won't be happy until they control everything, (sigh) I'm just glad she made it," said Ruby in slight irritation.

"Well, she's lucky. You all are but she's strong so she'll pull through without any hesitation," said the doctor.

"I'm glad to hear that. I gotta run back to labs, I'll come back here tonight and check on her," said Ruby.

"You have a good one," said the doctor as he walked away.

Ruby left for the labs grateful to hear that the lieutenant would pull through. When she got back her team were sitting at their stations analyzing the data on the DNA samples from the human fossils. "Find out anything else?" she asked.

"Nothing else so far, I'm still a little shaken up from our hostage situation. How's the lieutenant?" asked one of the researchers.

"The doctor said she ought to make a full recovery in another day or two, other than that she's still the same lieutenant," said Ruby.

The researcher smiled glad to hear the news. She turned back to the computer screen to examine the data that was gathered. Ruby returned to her desk and pulled out a flask with no one looking and took a swig. She places the flask back in the desk drawer and plopped down. "What a week its been," she said with exhaustion. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes to try and recompose her thoughts. After a moment one of the researchers walked in, a male octoling in a lab coat. "Ruby, are you ok?" he asked.

Ruby woke up and looked at the octoling. "Yeah I'm fine, what is it?" she asked as she rubbed her eye.

"Well, ma'am, we've run through the data multiple times and sources confirm about the DNA sample from the fossils," said the male researcher.

"Just get to the point," said Ruby.

"Well, like before the DNA strand proves positive to be oceanic-based though the fossils still retain their human structure. I don't know what to make of it, we're still baffled by these findings," said the male octoling.

"Oceanic-based? But that can't be, If they share the same DNA with the human that stayed with the inklings then...this doesn't make any sense," said the confused Ruby.

"Ma'am if I may interject, yes the DNA matches with the human that stayed with the inklings and tests prove there is an oceanic-based strand if not code on the same DNA, could that mean the human is..." said the male octoling.

"I think it's too early to tell, their's so many pieces of the puzzle missing. I can't confirm if your conclusion is correct or not," said Ruby.

"Well, for now, we'll just chalk this up as a theory until something else changes," said the male octoling. "I'll just let you get back to your nap," said the octoling as he walked out of her office.

"(deep sigh) I wish we knew more... for now I just need a break," said Ruby as she laid her head on the desk.

* * *

A green-headed inkling was laying in bed even though it was getting late in the morning. He rolled over looking like he was having trouble sleeping. He was soon woken up by another figure. "Get up," called the figure. The inkling mumbled and rolled over away from the figure. "GET UP!" shouted the figure in a displeased tone.

"WAAAHHH! I'm awake, I'm awake!" the inkling shouted as he bolted up.

"Get dressed and report to duty!" shouted an inkling female who had her arms crossed and a displeased look on her face. The inkling turned back to her seeing she wore a parka, boots and sported a beret on her head. Her tentacles were a cyan-color and drooped down to her waist.

"What time is it?" asked the inkling as he rubbed his eyes.

"It's time for you to get ready for physical training! Now get up and get dressed! The rest of the troops will be waiting for you outside the barracks! Now move grunt!" she barked.

The inkling groaned and got out of bed. He changed into his PT clothes and ran out of the barracks. "Private Flash! get in line before I shove a boot up your squid butt!" shouted the female from before.

"Yes, Captain!" he saluted as he got in line and fell to attention.

Flash was regretting joining the Inkopolis Defense Force. He was used to sleeping in, playing video games, and hanging out at the square with his friends. Yesterday evening Flash went to the IDF recruiting office and signed up to join. They asked about his turf war experience and his age and other requirements. He lied about his age like he said he would in order to join as inklings didn't carry any kind of identification. He was verified and put in the system for enlistment. Flash was thinking he could better himself and prove to Izzy he was willing to do what it took to show her what kind hero he could be and impress her.

Flash had zoned out and fell asleep in line as the captain noticed this and walked over to him. "Private Flash! Earth to Private Flash!" she shouted as she waved her hand in his face. She bared her teeth and slapped him to his senses. "Wake up! You're not at home anymore private!" she shouted angrily. "Now wake your ass up and stand at attention before I run you down this base until you're reduced to a puddle!" she said in a commanding tone.

"Yes, Captain!" he saluted.

"Good, now everyone listen up and pay attention. The IDF naval fleet will be departing and placing a blockade around the octoling territory. We are to stay back and prepare for any orders if the octolings are to retaliate. We will be the invasion force and storm the octarian territory should they attack us. We have not yet declared war until the inkling council calls it, until then we are on standby for further orders," shouted the captain.

"I hope Izzy will be alright. I know Ben and Jazz didn't want me to join the IDF but I wanna protect them and Izzy," Flash thought to himself.

"Alright everyone! we will begin PT as of now. so limber and shape up! You squishy squids will be whipped into shape. This isn't the turf war games," said the captain.

The inkling formation got ready for exercising. They did pull-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, and jogged across the area to keep in better shape but one inkling was lagging behind and finally fell out. He laid on the ground on his back panting from the training as the captain walked over and loomed over his body. "What's the matter private? Can't handle it, maybe a pathetic squid like you should've just stuck to being a turf stage cleaner. I won't tolerate a slacker in the ranks. Now get up and fall back in!" she commanded.

He fought to stand up and limped back to formation. He stood at attention tuckered out from the exercising as the captain stood in front of the large group of inklings. "All right you squids! Head to the mess hall and grab a bite. Afterward, at approximately 1000 hours (10:00 AM) report to the live-fire range so you can be trained to use a weapon. You're all dismissed," said the captain but shooting a glare at Flash before walking away.

"What's her problem?" replied Flash.

"That's the captain for you," said a pink-haired male inkling who walked behind Flash.

"Huh, who are you?" asked Flash as he turned around.

"Name's Kirk, nice to meet you...uh," started the pink-headed inkling.

"Flash, uh, nice to meet you too," said Flash as they shook hands.

"You gotta understand Flash, we're on the verge of war and we gotta stay on top of each other. This isn't your average turf war games where we can just have fun and get respawned if we get splattered. The captain is just keeping us in line because she doesn't want to see us get killed," said Kirk.

"Well, she doesn't have to be so jaded. It seems like she has it out for me," said Flash.

"Maybe she likes you, man," said Kirk as he elbowed Flash.

"What!" shouted Flash as he jerked back.

"Just squiddin' ya' but no she had to be strict and she doesn't tolerate people who don't fall in line. You'll get the hang of it, let's head to the mess hall before we lose some downtime," suggested Kirk.

"well, you lead the way, I don't know where the mess hall is," said Flash.

The two of them headed to the mess hall to grab a bite to eat. The two of them got into a conversation about their lives before they joined IDF. "So why'd you join?" asked Kirk.

"Uh, well...because of a...girl," said Flash rubbing his arm.

"A sweetheart huh, wanna impress her do ya?" replied Kirk.

"Well, we had a turf war match together and seeing my ex and losing the match to her. I snapped at her and she hasn't talked to me since. I wanted to tell her I was sorry but..." started Flash as he downed his head.

"But what?" asked Kirk.

"I saw her go into Ammo Knights with another inkling," said Flash.

"So, just tell her you're sorry and let her know how you feel. Win her back man," said Kirk as he smacked Flash in the back.

"You think I can but what about..." started Flash.

"dude, don't worry about that guy she was with. Just let her know and win her over. Well, whenever you get a chance," said Kirk.

"You're right! I'm going to win her back, I don't care about that guy I saw her go into the store with. I'll show her what good of a squid I can be!" shouted Flash as he pumped his fist and pulled out his chest.

"Now you're talking dude!" shouted Kirk.

"Man I needed that confidence, I'm glad I met you Kirk. I hope we can be teammates out in the field if we get deployed," said Flash.

"No sweat dude, I'm glad to be of assistance," said Kirk as he rubbed the back of his head.

After a moment a figure walked behind them at the table with their hands on their hips. "Well, maybe you two could assist each other getting to the LIVE FIRE RANGE! You're downtime is up, now move out you pathetic squids!" shouted the captain clearly agitated at the two of them.

They jumped out of their seats and saluted the captain. "YES, MA'AM!" they shouted together.

The two of them rushed out of the mess hall and to the range. The captain had an irritated look on her face and shook her head. "idiots," she sneered.

* * *

Back in octo canyon, Izzy was surrounded by the octarian rebels. It seemed she was done until she slowly sat up and clutched her weapon. "Give it up inkstain! We have you surrounded!" shouted the twintacle. She looked around in fright, fearing this was the end of her. "Izzy, Izzy!" shouted Sheldon on the radio. "Sheldon! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" she shouted in irritation.

"Busy! But never mind that! Use the new special I gave you!" he ordered.

Izzy looked at her squidwatch and saw it glowing from all the octarians she splatted before. A new Icon showed up on it that resembled a missile launcher.

"OK!" she shouted as she smacked the watch and two giant missile launchers appeared in her arms. She flipped them up and shot em' up in the air. The missiles came back down on the octarians that were too shocked to move by what had just happened. The octotroopers, twintacle, and the jet octostriker were splatted by the barrage. All was left was large puddles of yellow ink left behind by the missiles and Izzy put up the missile launchers.

"Those were tenta missiles! AWESOME!" shouted Izzy as she fist-pumped in the air.

"Talk about last second! Yeah, I managed to swap over your special from splashdown to the tenta missiles. I see you've been busy, keep up the good...IZZY WATCH OUT!" shouted Sheldon as Izzy heard something approach from the air. She jumped out of the way as a large familiar figure landed where she was at. Izzy looked up to the figure and was jaw-dropped on who it was.

"Not bad squid, you've proven to be a worthy adversary but your little victories have come to an end!" exclaimed the towering figure.

"Octo-Samurai?!" shouted Izzy in disbelief. "But I defeated you back at the power station, I saw your ghost fly away," said Izzy still in shock.

"You thought you would end me like that? No, I've come back to reclaim my honor and put an end to your reign of terror, little squid," said the octo-samurai.

He held up his giant roller and slammed it down toward before she jumped out of the way in time. Izzy was unsure how she would beat the octo-samurai if he wasn't defeated back at the power station. She was in fear of her life and decided to retreat to the next octozeppelin. "Running away? I don't think so!" shouted the octo-samurai as he held up the roller and it transformed into the octocycler. He drove toward Izzy on top of the octozeppelin and she spotted the tentacle hanging out of the top. She shot at the tentacle and it burst into ink. It descended like the other two and as the octo-samurai closed in on her she jumped to a nearby platform so she wouldn't get run over by the octocycler.

"You're not getting away that easy!" shouted the octo-samurai. The octozeppelin he was standing one was falling and he ran up and jumped to the platform Izzy was on. She shot a dispenser on the platform and rode the ink rail up into the air away from the octo-samurai. The octo-samurai smirked watching the agent get away. He spotted an approaching jet octostriker and grabbed its legs. "Follow her!" he ordered the startled octostriker. The octostriker used its booster to carry the heavy octarian up toward Izzy who was skidding on the ink rail to her next destination.

Izzy turned and saw the octo-samurai holding on to an octostriker as they pursued her. "Oh carp!" she shouted as she saw them gaining on her. She saw another platform ahead and the command octozeppelin head toward her. Onboard the big octozeppelin indside its gondola was the major. "Move in on that blasted squid!" she ordered the zeppelin crew. On top was the octocommander getting ready to shot at the agent when she was in range of his splattling gun.

Izzy hoped on the platform as the octo-samurai jumped off the octostriker and landed on the platform with Izzy. "Time to splat this insignificant squid!" sneered the Octarian. He swung his roller down on Izzy as she jumped up and kicked the octo-samurai in the face knocking him off the platform. She turned behind her and shot another dispenser and rode the ink rail toward the approaching command octozeppelin. Meantime, she didn't know that the octarian was holding on to the bottom of the platform and boosted himself up.

Izzy rode the ride rail as it spun around the command octozeppelin. three more zeppelins were below it and Izzy came up with a plan to finish off the fleet for good. She rode the rail around the command octozeppelin until she was spotted by the octocommander who lined a shot on her. It wound up it's splattling that was fed into its mouth and shot a barrage of ink at the little agent girl. "Quit moving inkstain!" shouted the octocommander.

Izzy dodged the fire as she was toward the end of the rail. At the end was another floating dispenser but as she jumped off the ink rail the octocommander struck Izzy with its splattling gun. "Gotcha' squid!" it scoffed. Izzy fell but luckliy landed on the fin of the zeppelin. The octocommander turned and aimed it's weapon at the inkling girl. She got up and squid formed before the octocommander lined a shot on her. Izzy weaved past the ink fire and hatily made her way toward the octarian. The octocommander was frantically firing at the squid until it ran out of ink. The splattling quit spinning and just clicked. The tentacles's eyes popped out causing its sunglasses to fly off realizing it had ran out of ammo.

Izzy changed back to her other form and aimed her hero shot at the octarian. She looked back at the nervous octarian and smirked. "Out of ink?... I'm not!" shouted Izzy as she pulled the trigger. "Oh, shi..." started the octocommander as he splatted off the stool and burst into ink.

Izzy was relieved to see she had defeated the octocommander and continued heading down the top of the octozeppelin when all of a sudden the octo-samurai jumped in front of her outta nowhere. "We have unfinished business inkstain," sneered the octo-samurai. Izzy gulped and lept backward away from the towering octarian and prepared for another battle with him. She aimed her hero shot at him while he held up his giant roller. It was the final fight between the two cephalopods.

* * *

At the metro station's hub, deep underground. Cassie, Cuttlefish, and Cleo had entered the directory minutes earlier. Inside the directory was a large map of different stations that made the network of the underground metro. There were multiple rooms inside the directory as Cleo had walked into one of them which appeared to be a locker room. Cassie and Cuttlefish continued to look around the area while Cleo was changing in the other room. "So what do we captain?" asked Cassie.

"I'm not so sure about this place lass. I have a bad feeling in my tentacles about this," commented Cuttlefish.

"Well, I hope we're wrong about Cleo. I hope she can help us figure out what this company is doing down here," she replied.

The door to the locker opened and Cleo stepped out in a different outfit. Cassie and Cuttlefish turned and looked at Cleo who was adjusting her new suit. "What?" she asked the two.

"What on earth are you wearing?" asked a baffled Cassie.

"It's called null armor. It was issued to me after a month I worked for the company," said Cleo. The black shiny armor was comprised of a torso cover, shoulder pads, and arm covers. The chest piece of the armor had the Namabo logo on it as well as the new boots she was wearing.

What for?" asked Cassie.

"I'm not sure, but it looks cool and it's comfortable. Well, I guess it's time to continue. We'll keep going through the directory to the other rooms. Maybe we can find out more," said Cleo as she walked off.

Cassie looked at Cuttlefish who wasn't sure how to make of things. "Hmm..." he pondered.

The two caught up with Cleo ahead and Cassie tapped her shoulder. "Cleo, do you know of anyone else that's working for Kamabo, well besides your sister and your octoling boyfriend?" she asked.

"As far as I know, No. Why do you ask?" replied Cleo.

"Oh, nothing, just wondering," said Cassie.

Cleo continued as Cassie stayed behind her with Cuttlefish bringing up the rear suspicious of where they were going. They approached another door with the Namabo logo on it and stepped inside. The room was totally dark until the lights came on startling Cassie and Cuttlefish. "Where are we?" asked Cassie.

"This is supposed to be the introduction room. This is as far as I got inside. C.Q. Cumber guided me down here for my interview," answered Cleo.

"Interview?" replied Cassie.

"Yeah, before I could be employed I had to ask a series of questions," said Cleo.

"Huh...I wonder why?" wondered Cassie.

The group stumbled through the dark room trying to hunt for a light switch. Cassie patted the wall and flicked a switch as the lights came on and so did a projector. The grouped stared at the projector as a screen appeared against the wall. The video was being projected followed by the Namabo logo. The group decided to sit down and watch, wondering what was going on.

After a few moments, the screen was followed by the voice of an older human which the inklings couldn't understand but only watched the video as it continued.

"Mankind had been wiped out by rising sea levels due to the earth's climate rapidly changing. The war over land and resources soon followed dubbed the resource wars which cost the lives of billions of people and finished off mankind that didn't escape on board the ark polaris that had been constructed for our salvation and escape from the destruction of our home. We are humanity's best hope to repopulate and reestablish civilization back on earth once the sea levels fall back down exposing the land that was once submerged. Once we land back down and disembark off the Ark Polaris, we are to start mankind back over and hopefully establish peace among the remains of humanity, said the human voice.

"I can't understand what the voice on the video is saying, it doesn't sound like inkling or octarian," said Cassie who was confused as what the human was saying.

"I'm not sure either lass, maybe the young whippersnapper would know," said Cuttlefish.

Cleo, do you know what's going on?" asked Cassie.

"I don't know, this is a first for me, I don't understand it either," said Cleo.

The video continued as the three continued to watch.

"How is this possible you might add. Here at the Kamabo company we have constructed cryostasis pods to place humanity in frozen suspension for years to come until the earth's sea levels lower," said the human voice.

The video showed a picture of a cryostasis pod and the three recognized it as the one Blake was found in. "Captain isn't that the pod Blake was in when you found him and when he came out of it back at the shellendorf institute?" asked Cassie as she pointed at the video of the pod.

"You're right lass! But I wish I could understand what it is saying," said Cuttlefish.

"It's gotta be human, I wish Blake were here to translate for us but if that's the pod he came out of then what could this mean?" asked Cassie.

"Quiet you two, let's continue watching and maybe we'll get some answers," said Cleo.

The three focused back on the video again.

"Another project besides the Ark Polaris was created before the construction of the spacecraft, was the underground domes for habitation when mankind establishes civilization back on earth. The domes would provide a temporary environment or should I say a plan B for mankind for us to grow and thrive. These domes were designed to simulate the world we once knew with inner walls lined with monitors and a power source to make the domes sustainable. Each person would be given a specific job and title. Them and their families would be rationed off food and reside in the domes for a period of time during our repopulation of the earth," said the human voice.

"Wait a minute, that diagram...that looks like the octarian underground domes. That means the humans built the underground domes," said Cassie as she saw an image of a human family then the diagram of the domes. "You mean to tell me the humans built those domes, do the octarians know about this?" asked Cassie.

"I...don't know, I'm not sure if Xavier knows," said Cleo.

"Xavier?" asked Cassie.

"He's the octoling boyfriend I was telling you about," said Cleo.

"I vaguely remember seeing strange writing inside the underground domes long ago during the great turf war with Octavio," said Cuttlefish.

"Then I can only assume the domes were constructed by the humans, but why?" asked Cassie.

They turned back to video again trying to put the pieces together with Blake's pod, the underground domes, and the company Kamabo.

"Kamabo will ensure the survival of humanity once we re-establish civilization. The company has gone beyond its limits to tests the circumstances of our future by creating the AI tartar and the X-1 serum. Tartar had been programmed to ensure that mankind's survival is successful and to pass down our knowledge to the future generations to come. The serum was a failsafe should the sea levels not lower soon enough and bring forth impending environmental change on the planet. The serum would allow us to adapt to the new world that we would inhabit using oceanic-based DNA that we have extracted from multiple species. Why do this you may ask? Well, we the scientists of Kamabo have been concerned that the earth after the floods would bring unpredictable environmental change or that the sea levels may not drop for years to come. The Ark Polaris will not able to sustain humanity for a long period of time so we had to think ahead and plan a solution if that would come," continued the human voice.

During the video the three of them saw different sea life that was shown. The sea life looked somewhat familiar but they couldn't place their tentacles on it. Seeing the DNA spliced into a serum that would alter humanity and were confused at what they were watching.

"Those creatures were the ones I saw in that book back in that house before we came down here. I also saw the DNA strands in the video and remembered seeing a display of DNA codes back the shellendorf institute," said Cassie.

"Book?" asked Cleo.

"Yeah, it was in that dirty abandoned house. It had diagrams of these creatures in them that I've never seen before but unfortunately I couldn't read it," said Cassie.

Cleo froze in thought and turned back to the video and pondered. She remembered Xavier saying something about the octarians studying human technology and fossils. He was once an engineer in the octarian army and dug up old ancient remains of the life before the flood wiped out mankind. She thought maybe he knew something about this.

Cassie looked at Cleo with curiosity and concern seeing her in deep thought. "Cleo," said Cassie as Cleo snapped out of it and turned to the agent.

"Sorry just thinking is all," said Cleo as the three of them turned to the video still playing.

The video went through more sequences of the re-establishment of humans back on earth until the screen turned to a man dressed in a lab coat. Cassie recognized the human as the one in the picture on the wall with the cat they knew as Judd. "That human, I saw him in a picture in the house. I assumed that book belonged to him but what caught my eye was Judd was in the picture with him," said Cassie.

"Judd!? The turf match judge?" replied a surprised Cleo. "Impossible," replied Cleo in disbelief.

"Yeah! He was in the photo with the human," said Cassie. The video caught all of their attention again with the human in the lab coat picking up Judd to confirm Cassie's case.

"Judd," replied a stunned Cleo seeing the human pickup the large cat.

The human in the lab gave a closure to the video before waving as well as Judd at the camera before the video shut off.

The three looked at each other in utter confusion. "Just how old is Judd, exactly?" asked Cassie still trying to understand what she had watched.

"Lass, I'm not to sure. Like Blake, Ammoses found him in a pod. He doesn't recall anything before that like Blake couldn't recall his memories before he was that thing," said Cuttlefish.

"So, Judd doesn't remember either. That's unfortunate, I was hoping Judd might have had some answers," said Cassie.

"So that human we saw in the video. You said he was in a picture back at that house and you think that book belonged to him?" asked Cleo.

"Yeah, I think so," said Cassie.

"By the way, I assume he was narrating that video and by that lab coat, he was wearing. He must of been like some kind of scientist or something. I don't think C.Q. Cumber would know anything about this, but we could ask when we meet him again," said Cleo.

"Well this place was built by humans and so were the octo-domes. There's so many things missing, none of it makes any sense," said Cassie.

"If you two are done, I'm ready to get out of here. I'm not liking where this is heading to and this place just gives me the heebie-jeebies. Let's head back to the metro, I'm ready for another nap," said Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish left the room while Cassie and Cleo stood back. "Sheesh, what an old squid. I don't know how you could put up with him," said Cleo.

"It's not easy, believe me but he's my captain. That I can say," said Cassie.

"Well, I feel ya'. We can ask C.Q. Cumber if he knows anything about this but he's usually not the conversation type. He's just focused on the task at hand and slithers away before you could ever talk with him. He seems a little reserved, maybe somethings bothering him," said Cleo.

"We won't know until we ask," said Cassie.

The two of them soon left and followed Cuttlefish back to the metro to get answers from the sea pig as they waited for the subway to arrive.


	65. Arc 3 Chapter 17

**Arc 3 Chapter 17**

In the abandoned underground city deep in octo canyon. Marie was providing overwatch for Blake from the rooftops. On the street level, Blake was running down the street but stayed cautious of his surroundings. So far they didn't spot any more patrols on their way to Tentacle Towers where Sergeant Maxie was being held. Blake was willing to rescue her since she helped him back at the saltspray rig and that she possibly knew how to get to the octo rebel's base.

Blake spotted the large building at the end of the street when all of a sudden Marie radioed to him through his headset. "Blake, stop!" she shouted.

"What is it?" he responded.

"There are some guards outside the door. Two octolings and some kind of tracked vehicle with a face on it, maybe some kind of new octoweapon," said Marie. Blake looked and spotted the guards and the Octostamp DX.

"How am I going to get past them, I'm not even armed?" said Blake.

"Leave it to me, I'll snipe the octolings but you'll have to deal with that over-sized lunchbox and get its attention," said Marie.

"Uh, Marie, I'm weaponless, remember," said an agitated Blake.

"And whose fault is that? No worries I'll lend you some splat bombs, here catch!" shouted Marie as she threw down Blake two splat bombs filled with her green ink.

"Make them count," she continued as she got to a vantage point and prepared to shot the octolings once Blake got closer without getting spotted. Blake got into position as Marie shot the first octoling. The second one jumped in surprise. "What the! Sniper!" shouted the octoling as she splattered the ground with ink. She octo formed and hid in the ink to avoid getting shot. Meantime, Blake moved in and the big boxy tank spotted him. Octotroopers popped out of it from behind and shot at Blake.

Blake jumped up and lobbed a splat bomb between them splatting all of them. As he lands back down the Octostomp DX rolls toward the human agent. It flips once it gets near Blake. As slow as it was, Blake could easily avoid but destroying may prove difficult being it was armored. When it rolled forward on its face. Blake saw the back hatch open and jumped on top of the tank to lob a splat bomb inside and quickly jumped off. The driver panicked and attempted to get out but it was too late. The octostomp DX exploded into ink.

Marie was on top of the building hunting the octoling. She soon spotted a little octopus jumping through the purple ink and shot at her. She yelped and changed back. The octoling spotted Marie and bared her fangs at her. "Damn inkling! Die!" she yelled as she shot at Marie. Marie took cover as the octoling sprayed in her direction. She octo formed back into the ink out of sight again.

Marie peeked out of cover and lined another shot toward the puddles of purple ink. She spotted two eyes in the puddle and lined a shot. The stream of ink hit its target and the octopus was launched back out of the ink and landed on the ground in her humanoid form. She splatted once her body was motionless and saw Blake had destroyed the octostamp DX.

"Nice job agent!" shouted Marie.

Blake turned and looked at Marie with a blush and rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks for the bombs and you too!" shouted Blake.

"Hey, you two! Sheldon here! I've managed to get Blake another weapon. I've constructed a new weapon for this type of urban environment that will prove useful. I present to you the Rapid splat 3000. I'm still working on the name but I call it that for a reason," said Sheldon on the radio as his drone dropped a crate down on the street in front of the towering building.

Blake opened it and held it up. Marie jumped down and also stared at the weapon. "What is this? It's not like the weapon you issued me from before," said Blake confused by the new ink weapon.

"I've never seen a weapon like that either," said Marie.

The weapon looked like a large yellow and black paint sprayer with a paint tank on the bottom of it. **(It's based on the Wagner Flexio 3000 paint sprayer, look it up)**

"It's a new design I came up with. It has a high rate of fire but a limited range like the aerospray line of weapons. I thought it would be suitable for the terrain you'll be fighting in but be careful it will deplete ink quickly if you're not too careful. I've also thrown in a new tank with an ink recycler in it. Please don't get it damaged! I'm running out of parts," whined Sheldon.

"I'll do my best Sheldon," said Blake.

"Oh, and also I've given you a new special too, one that's never been released yet for the turf players. I call it Ink Decoys," said Sheldon in excitement.

"Ink Decoys? What's that?" asked Blake.

"This will allow you to conjure three additional ink-made figures that look just like you but made of ink. They will shoot at and distract enemies for you, but their attacks are much weaker and are more of a diversionary tactic. It will prove useful when dealing with groups of enemies though, just remember to keep on eye on your squidwatch ok," said Sheldon.

Woah, that sounds pretty handy. three ink figures shooting at enemies for you, cool, I can't wait to use it," said Blake excitedly.

"Yeah, I've never heard of anything like that either, I love to see that special in action," said Marie over the radio.

"Well, this will be a field trial for it. Like I said I hope it proves useful," said Sheldon.

"If I'm going to test this thing out then I guess I better go and rescue the octoling sergeant," said Blake. He started making his way in the building when Marie called his name on the radio.

"Blake!" shouted Marie.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Be careful, I'm not going to be able to cover you while you're inside. We don't know how many more octarians are in there and what they have planned. I'll try and do my best on seeing if I can keep an eye out for anything. This could also be a trap too so don't get cornered," said Marie.

"I've already thought that too. I'll be mindful, don't worry Marie, hopefully Sheldon's special will come in handy like he said it would," said Blake.

Blake headed inside Tentacle Towers. He entered a large lobby area and looked around for a way up. He spotted an elevator but it was out of order. Nearby was a staircase going up. He decided to go up the stairs, ready for anything he may face on his way to rescue the sergeant. An octoling rebel wearing a cape watched the human climb up and rushed away.

The sergeant-major was in charge of capturing Blake at Tentacle Towers. She had dark red tentacles and had green eyes with blue irises like other octolings that spent so much time underground. She donned a cape behind her armor with a red octoling emblem on it. "I've done called for reinforcements to surround the building and capture that human. I think I'll let our little damsel know her knight in shining armor is on her way," sneered the sergeant major.

She made it to the very top floor where Maxie was being held in a large cell with her brain-washed teammate Serena watching her. Before the sergeant-major arrived Serena walked over to the cell with Maxie curled up on the floor. "M...Maxie," said Serena meekly but still under the influence of the goggles. Maxie slowly turned over her shoulder and looked at Serena.

Maxie had tears in her eyes and sniffled as she stared at her former teammate. She turned her head back away from her and continued pouting. "Maxie," she said again but the sergeant didn't respond.

"I'm...sorry," said Serena with sadness in her voice as a tear fell and hit the floor.

"Leave me alone," said Maxie in a pout.

Serena fought the influence of the goggles and dropped her octoshot. She fought to pull her arms up and remove the goggles from her face. She continued to resist as Maxie looked back over her shoulder to see what Serena was doing. Maxie sat up stunned that Serena was fighting the influence of the goggles. The goggles started to stun her as she cried in pain. "Serena! Stop!" shouted Maxie as she ran toward the cell wall pleading for her teammate to stop or the goggles would knock her out.

"No! I don't wanna be controlled anymore!" she jeered, still getting shocked by the goggles. She eventually broke away from the goggles and threw them down. She dropped to the floor worn out from struggling. The goggles shut down and Maxie looked at Serena's motionless body with deep concern. Serena, Serena!" she shouted at her teammate.

Soon Serena's hand flinched and she slowly sat back up rubbing her face. "Serena?" asked Maxie clutching the cell bars. She mumbled and looked back at the sergeant. "Maxie..." she replied. "Serena!" shouted the sergeant with tears of joy. Serena got up and rushed over to the cell to hug her through the bars.

"Serena! I'm so glad you're back," said Maxie with tears in her eyes.

Serena and Maxie pulled away wiping the tears from their eyes. "I'm going to try and get you outta there sergeant," said Serena. She looked around for something to try and break the lock with. The octoling spotted a pry bar laying on the floor and picked it up. She placed it on above the lock and attempted to pry it loose. She put all of her strength into trying the break the lock open until her and Maxie heard approaching footsteps.

"Serena, stop! I hear someone coming!" exclaimed Maxie.

Serena threw the pry bar aside and picked up the broken goggles and placed them over her face along with her octoshot. The sergeant-major walked in and looked at the sergeant. "Hmm...you're awake, good," sneered the sergeant-major. The sergeant gave her an unpleasant glare as she squeezed the bars of her cell. "Well, I have some good news and bad news," she said to Maxie.

"The good news is that human is on his way to rescue you. The bad news is that my troops are preparing to surround this building and take him," said the sergeant-major. "So don't hold your breath expecting him to save your octo butt," finished the sergeant-major.

"He's resourceful and stronger than you think! So don't think he won't put up a fight. I know he'll make it up here and rescue me and kick your octopus ass!" shouted Maxie baring her teeth at the sergeant-major.

You may be right but that's why I have you," said the sergeant-major as she grinned. The sergeant looked at with concern wondering what the octoling had up her sleeve. "If he should pose a problem for us, I can use you to get him to surrender," said the sergeant-major.

"You honestly believe I would help you, I would rather drop to my death off this building!" shouted the angered sergeant.

"That's a thought but I would rather use you to get to him, what I understand from the major is you have a lot of admiration for him, possibly...have a crush on him," said the sergeant as she smirked.

"I...don't know what you're talking about, you'll believe anything that comes out of that major's mouth," sneered Maxie.

"Private! Get over here and watch the prisoner!" she commanded Serena not knowing she was no longer under the influence of the goggles. Serena decided to play along and act as if she was still under control.

"Yes, ma'am," replied Serena as she walked over.

Serena grabbed Maxie by the arm with her octoshot pointed on her back. The sergeant-major started to walk out and Maxie turned to Serena with confusion. "Serena, what are you doing?!" exclaimed Maxie quietly.

"Don't worry sarge I have a plan," said Maxie pulling her goggles down for a moment giving her a wink.

* * *

Izzy and the octo-samurai were duking it out on top of the command octozeppelin. The towering octarian would slam his roller down toward Izzy as she dodged every attack. Izzy would spray the octo-samurai with her hero shot but he would twirl his roller to block the fire. The match seemed like a stalemate as they waited for each other to tire out from the battling.

"Give up!" shouted the octo-samurai as he loomed over the inkling girl who was clearly tuckered out from the fighting.

"Never you fat clown!" she shouted back.

The octo-samurai gave a gargled roar and held his roller up. It transformed into the octocycler again and he made a charge at the inkling Izzy who was unsure what to do. She was tired and didn't have enough energy to jump out of the way as the octo-samurai rolled her over. He left behind a trail of purple ink and no sign of the inkling anywhere. He gave a devious smile as he changed the octocycler back to its roller form.

"That'll teach that impotent squid," sneered the octo-samurai.

It seemed Izzy was finally stopped cold in her tracks. The octo-samurai was finally glad to be rid of the agent that had defeated him before but as the octo-samurai turned away as a figure appeared out of the trail of ink as they opened they're eyes. They blinked, stunned that they had survived the octocycler attack. The figure sat up covered in octarian ink as they weakly grabbed something out of their pack. It was a squee-g. A small fish like robot that scrubbed the purple ink off them.

The figure revealed itself to be Izzy once the squee-g was done cleaning her and shut down once it had cleaned all the ink off her. "I'm so glad Sheldon put that thing in my pack for such an occasion," said Izzy.

The octo-samurai stopped by the voice of the inkling he thought he had splated. He turned around and saw the inkling stand behind him. The large octarian was agape with words to unsure how the inkling survived the octocycler.

"What, you should be a puddle right now inkstain!" he shouted. "None the less, you're relentless, I'll give you that," continued the octo-samurai.

"I'm a squid beak agent. I vowed to protect my friends and all of inkopolis from any threats and I won't stop until you and the band of rebels are defeated! My friend Cassie taught me how to be brave and stand up to people like you. I'm no longer the shy squid I was when I first came to Inkopolis and I will defeat you and the octo-rebels. I promised myself that I would get the great zapfish back and see my friend Cassie again no matter what," exclaimed Izzy as she clutched her hero shot and emboldened herself not showing any fear toward the octo-samurai.

The octo-samurai was at a loss of words and greatly admired her bravery. He started to chuckle and stared back at the inkling girl. "So the inkstain had finally grown a backbone. I admire your confidence and resilience inkling but we know who will be the victor here. The octarians will reign the surface world and there's nothing you can do to stop us! This battle was already won before it started. Do you really believe you can stop our whole fleet by yourself. You have failed you insolate squid and their's nothing you can do about it! Surrender is futile and you should accept your defeat while you can inkstain!" sneered the octarian.

Izzy bared her teeth at him ready to battle it out with large Octarian. He held up his roller again ready to transform it into the octocycler yet again, intending to finish off the inkling girl once and for all when all of a sudden. Shadows appeared above the hatch where the octozeppelins were to start their assault on inkopolis.

The octo-samurai and Izzy looked up and saw that it was more octozeppleins above them but these octozeppelins were commanded by the neo-octarian army. The octozeppleins fired at the rebel zeppelins intending for them not to get out of the dome below them. Onboard one of the neo-octarian zeppelins was an octoling elite (not the lieutenant) giving orders to attack the rebel zeppelins and not allow them to escape for the attack on the inklings.

"Don't let a single octozeppelin escape!" shouted the elite as the zeppelins moved in and attacked the rebels below.

The octo-samurai was frozen by the sight of the opposing octozeppelins. Izzy took this opportunity to jump up and kick the octarian in the face once he turned back to the inkling girl. He was knocked back and dropped his roller down. Dazed and confused, the octarian sat up and looked at the inkling agent who was standing on his roller. He looked at her with horror as she gave a smirk at the scarred octarian. She picked up the large roller and swung it down on the octo-samurai's head breaking it in half. The spawner built-inside the roller was busted and would not allow the octarian to respawn and come back like before.

The octo-samurai was finally defeated and laid unconscience on the roof of the command octozeppelin. "You...finally beat me...inkstain," he mumbled before blacking out. Izzy stared at the motionless hulking octarian. She looked back up at the octozeppleins which were shooting down at the rebel zeppelins. A big shot on ink came down and Izzy scrambled to move as the ink covered the surface of where she and the octo-samurai were battling. The octarian was finished off by the big ink shot and she had rushed over toward the hatch of zeppelin before she was hit by another shot. She hopped down the hatch and landed inside a bay. Inside were more octolings scrambling to get to their battle stations. She hid behind some crates, fortunately, she wasn't spotted as the octolings were too busy.

She took the opportunity to lob splat bombs on the unsuspecting octolings splatting many of them with the rest shocked in fear of what had just happened. She hopped on the crate and shot the rest before they could return fire. She squid formed and made her way toward the door on the opposite side of the bay, only for more octolings to burst out of the door and shoot at the squid. She transformed back and shot at the octolings dodging their fire and finishing them off as she closed in on the door. She huddled up against the wall, ready to breach the room on the other side. She rushed in and aimed her weapon down a long corridor. The fire from the other octozeppelins caused the zeppelin to shake as she had trouble standing up. She eventually toppled over and the command octozeppelin leaned forward, slowly descending downward.

Izzy yelped and slid toward the door on the end of the corridor. "AAAHHH!" she screamed heading toward the door. She landed on the door, busting it open. She flew inside running right into the scar-faced elite that she met months ago back when she was saved by the sergeant at Camper's hideout. The elite yelped from the inkling landing on her. Izzy and the elite were both dazed and slowly got up off the floor. The elite turned toward the inkling girl and recognized her.

She stared at the inkling and bared her teeth remembering when she interfered with the fight between her and the sergeant. "You! You're the squid that was with that sergeant back at that twirp's base. The interfering squid! I wouldn't have to be dealing with pain in my tentacle if it weren't for you! Well, that sergeant isn't here to rescue you now!" she sneered.

Izzy sat up and remembered the elite that attacked her and Maxie from months ago after she saved her from Camper's gang. She saw that her hero shot was laying on the floor between her and the octoling elite. She looked at it and so did the major. Izzy made a rush to the weapon but it was kicked away by the major who attempted to swing her knife at Izzy. Izzy jumped back from the attack as the major clutched the knife ready to attack the inkling girl again. Izzy was now cornered and left defenseless against the malicious elite who remembered her from warning the sergeant about the major's sneaky move from months ago. The elite would soon return the favor and stab Izzy like she would to the sergeant.

The elite lunged at Izzy in the intent to kill the inkling agent. Instead of stabbing Izzy she stabbed the control panel and got jolted as she yelped. Izzy squid formed behind the elite as the major turned her head around. "Interfering Inkstain!" jeered the elite as she pulled out the knife off the panel. Izzy flinched back and stared at the elite. "Not so brave now, are you squid. Don't worry, I make this quick but painful. You're going to wish you didn't interfere with that fight between and that turncoat sergeant," said the elite coldly.

Izzy quickly spotted the remain rebel octozeppelin take a hit and careen toward the command octozeppelin they were onboard. Izzy's eyes widened and fear filled her face. The elite grinned and was ready to end the inkling's life with her back against the windshield of the gondola. Izzy pointed toward the window and the elite slowly turned around. Her expression turned to the same as Izzy's and dropped the knife. "Oh, fuc..." started the elite but cut off by Izzy shouting: "RUN!" as they both bolted out of the cockpit of the gondola.

When the octozeppelin struck the ship the two of them were propelled toward the rear bay of the gondola. Both airships collided and slowly descended to the bottom of the dome. The back hatch flew open as Izzy grabbed one end of the edge while the major grabbed the other side of the doorway. Both were screaming and holding on for dear life. The elite managed to pull herself up and call for octoseeker to pick her out of the falling command octozeppelin ASAP.

She turned back to the inkling agent who was still holding on. "Enjoy the ride squid! I gotta ride outta here, I don't expect you to survive this!" sneered the major.

After a moment an octoseeker hovered over the bay door as the major octo formed and hopped on to the craft. Izzy struggled to pull herself up and once she did she stood up and turned toward the octoseeker with the elite giving her a gesture as she taunted the doomed inkling girl. Izzy backed up and squid jumped to the octoseeker as it's hatch was still open. She grabbed ahold of the hatch door but the major quickly tried to stop her. "Oh no you don't squid!" she sneered.

Izzy lost her grip with one hand but still hung on with the other. "Sorry, no hitchhikers!" shouted the major as she stomped on Izzy's hand. She yelped and was losing her grip. Izzy looked down and then back up at the malicious octoling. The major bared her teeth as she twisted her boot over Izzy's hand. "This is where you get off!" shouted the elite as Izzy finally lost her grip.

"Have a nice trip!" shouted the elite as she waved and gave the inkling an evil grin. She watched Izzy fall toward the descending octozeppelin as she screamed. Was this the end of the inkling agent? The elite commanded the octoseeker to get out of the area and back to the rebel base. The Neo-Octarian army finished off the rest of the rebels as the remaining octozeppelins were shot down and the rebel's plans thwarted. It appeared that war was evaded...for now.

* * *

It had been nearly an hour and Melvin had decided to leave the crashed Octoseeker when he gained enough strength to do so. Bruised up from the crash with ink coming out of his mouth. The octoling stumbled until he garnered enough strength and will to shake off his wounds. He was in the canyon, unsure where the direction of Octo Valley was and had no way to communicate with the octarian base. He trekked along the top of the canyon until he spotted something in the near distance. He sees a collection of floating platforms along with an octopus-shaped rock formation. He assumed that he may have reached the border in Octo Valley. He rushed over until he got closer and realized it was the same place his team had gone through before getting inside Octo Canyon.

"Wait, this is where that mysterious shack is, maybe there's someone here and I can get some help," said Melvin. He octo jumped to the platforms and ran under the archway. He spotted the ornate shack but no one was around. He discovered that someone had been there by the look of things and spotted a radio on a table.

"What luck, a radio!" exclaimed Melvin with joy.

We went over and changed the channel to see if he could pick up radio traffic on the octarian network. "Hello, this is specialist Melvin of Recon Team 8, come in," responded Melvin. After a moment he didn't get a callback. "This is specialist Melvin of Recon Team 8, respond over!" he shouted again. Again nothing.

"Damn it!" jeered Melvin as he pounded the table.

He gave a sigh and left the table throwing down the headset. Soon a voice appeared on the radio. "Hello, Hello, who is this specialist Melvin?" said the voice.

Melvin perked and turn back to the radio. "Yes, this is specialist Melvin of Recon Team 8," said Melvin.

"Recon Team 8? Who are you and what are you doing on this channel?" asked the voice sternly.

"I crashed a couple of miles from here and was calling to see if I can get rescued. I need to get a hold of the octarian base in Octo Valley," explained Melvin.

"Octarian base? explain yourself," ordered the voice.

Melvin had raised an eyebrow and felt a little insulted by the voice. "Look I'm an octoling soldier that was assigned to spy on the octo rebels in Octo Canyon. Me and my team were compromised and caught. I managed to escape but I ran into a bit of trouble on my way back to Octo Valley. I'm needing some assistance and a way to get back to my base," explained Melvin with slight irritation.

"You're an octoling! Wait...you said you were sent in octo canyon to spy on the rebels. That's odd, umm...just a moment, let me inform my "superior" about this," said the voice as it got of the radio. Melvin patiently waited for the voice to get back with him. He turned back to the ornate shack and saw a kimono lying on the floor. He walked over and picked it up, studying the clothes. This looks like something a female would wear, I wonder if she's still around. Perverted thoughts were running through the octoling's mind but he shook his head and focused back on the situation. He hadn't noticed he was being watched by a figure from the other side of the small meadow the shack had rested on.

He put down the kimono and went back to the radio, patiently waiting to hear from the voice again. After a moment the radio came back on and the voice appeared again. "Hello, umm...octoling?" asked the voice.

"It's specialist Melvin and yes what is it?" he asked with irritation.

"Yes, I've informed my superior about your dilemma. For now, she's told me to tell you to sit tight and that she'll try to make it back as soon as she can. By the way my name is Sheldon, Sheldon Shellendorf and i'm pleased to make your acquaintance," said the horseshoe crab.

"Umm, likewise I guess... So who are you?" asked the octoling.

"I'm a tinkerer, I construct ink-based weaponry for the inklings for their turf matches in Inkopolis. I've also researched on human technology and culture like my father and my grandfather before me," said Sheldon.

"You build weapons, I was an engineer before I was tasked with the recon team. We constructed Octoweapons and armor during and after Octavio's reign. I remembered we have researchers that study and dig up human artifacts and even fossils," said Melvin.

"Really, I've always wondered about octoweapons and how they worked but you said something about human artifacts and fossils?" said Melvin with fascination.

"Yeah, I've come across old human technology but not so much fossils. I've never been so much fascinated with the extinct race. Though I guess it would be cool to see how they were like," said Melvin.

Sheldon decided to keep Blake's existence to himself. "Yeah, it would cool to learn how humans were like, we have a fossil in our institute here in Inkopolis," said Sheldon hiding his acknowledgment that indeed there was a human still alive.

As the two were chatting on the radio. An octopus had slithered up on top of the octopus rock formation and changed back kneeling down, watching Melvin. It was Obi who was ready to pounce on melvin for the trouble he put him through. Obi took the opportunity to octo jump down and lunge at the unsuspecting octoling. The defected octoling growled as he grabbed Melvin who didn't have time to react. He dropped the headset and was struggling with the enraged octoling.

"Melvin, Melvin! What's going on!?" shouted Sheldon hearing the struggle between the two octolings.

"You're going to pay for being a thorn in my tentacle, you useless octopus!" roared Obi trying to strangle Melvin. He punched Obi in the face and Melvin kicked him off. The octoling got up and looked over at his adversary. Obi rubbed his chin from the kick and spit out ink. He glared back at Melvin who slowly stood up rubbing his neck as he caught his breath. Obi charged back at melvin with the intent to murder his former teammate. The two of them held back one another and it was a test of strength in who would do the other in.

"Give it up turncoat! It's time for the octarians to take back what rightfully belongs to us and for those damn inkstains and pay for banishing us underground! You and those traitors will answer for turning on us and siding with the squids! You're worse than those inklings! How could you possibly side up with those that destroyed our way of life!?" asked Obi in rage.

"You've allowed those rebels and Octavio to cloud your judgment. Octavio didn't give a damn about us! We were nothing but pawns! Expendable! he's the reason why we lost so many octarians! I don't understand why you and those octopi would still do his bidding! How I see it you're the turncoat!" shouted back Melvin.

Obi had gotten angrier and gritted his teeth eager to finish off the octoling for turning on his own kind. He let go of Melvin and jumped up. he kicked Melvin down on to the ground. The blow knocked the wind out of the octoling as he laid on the ground. Obi stared at the octoling and then spotted a large rock nearby. He walked over and picked it up. He carried it over toward Melvin who was slightly dazed and catching his breath.

"You have one chance to redeem yourself octopus. Join us and reclaim your honor. Help us defeat the inklings and those traitors at Octo Valley and I'll spare your life," ordered Obi.

Melvin glared back at him and spit out blood. "I'd rather die, you piece of crap! screw you and those rebels!" jeered Melvin.

Obi's eye twitched and rage consumed his face. He held the large rock over his head with the intent to smash the octoling with it. "Then die you traitor!" shouted Obi as Melvin held is arm over his face bracing for the rock to smash and kill him.

A shot could be heard out and Melvin opened his eyes and turned back to the octoling that was about to kill Kim. His eyes were rolled back with a large splatter of teal colored ink covered his chest. He splattered into ink and rock came down on the puddle where he was standing over Melvin.

"Huh..." replied a stunned Melvin unsure what had happened. He turned around, looking behind him and saw the top of an umbrella where the teal colored ink had came out a barrel in the center. A figure tipped the umbrella back over and revealed it to be another octoling with black and teal tentacles. It was Marina from Off the Hook, who had to save Melvin's life from the defected octoling.

* * *

An hour earlier, Marina was in her lab dwelling on the tensions between the inklings and octarians. She had laid her head on her work table staring at the wall. She gave a deep sigh and soon got up. She had decided to leave for Mt. Nantai to clear her thoughts. The octoling grabbed some supplies and placed them in a duffle bag. She stared at a picture of her and Pearl when they started their first gig. She thought about the good times they had and placed the picture in the duffle bag. She slung it over her shoulder and walked out of her lab.

Marina snuck down the hallway and peeked around the corner to see if Pearl was still watching TV. She saw she the little inkling was asleep on the couch after eating a whole jar of mayonnaise. Marina saw the perfect opportunity to leave the mansion and head to Mt. nantai without getting stopped by her partner. "Sorry, Pearl... I don't want anything to happen to you because of me. I hope you can forgive me for leaving," said Marina sadly. She turned back to the door and left out without Pearl noticing as she continued to snore on the couch.

It was a long walk to the square where she saw it was littered with anti-octarian propaganda that had been put up by the Inkopolis Defense Force. The square was empty and the octoling spotted their studio by the street. She looked inside remembering the news broadcasts they gave and what wether or not Mayo or Ketchup was better.

She sighed and turned to the storm grate on the end of the square. She lifted the lid and threw her duffle bag in, before looking back at the square. She had a distressed look on her face as if it pained her to leave her new home and her friend Pearl. She jumped down and went inside the tube holding her sadness in.

Once she got to the other side, Marina threw her duffle bag up and jumped out of the storm drain. Once the octoling looked around she spotted the ornate shack with a table and radio on top of it. "This wasn't here when me and Pearl first met," she said to herself. She stared at the shack and then back to the radio on the table. "Somebody must be staying here but what's this radio doing here?" she asked herself.

She decided to place her duffle bag down and lay her laptop on the table. She kneeled down and opened her laptop to see if she had gotten any more messages from her contact. After a few minutes on her laptop, she heard something from the other side of the octopus-shaped archway. Soon she heard someone talking and running toward her direction. She panicked and placed the laptop back in the duffle bag and decided to grab her splatbrella out of the bag just in case it could be trouble. She octo formed out of sight behind some bushes on the other side of the area she was in. She watched to see who was coming and saw an octoling which completely shocked her.

"An Octoling, but...what is he doing here?" she asked in confusion.

He ran toward the shack and spotted the radio. He grabbed the microphone and began calling out his name and was trying to get a hold of his base. After a while another voice called back on the radio it was revealed to be Sheldon asking what the octoling was doing on his channel. After some explaining and talking another octoling jumped off the rock formation and pounced on the octoling using the radio. A tussle ensued and soon the octolings were locked in battle. The octoling named Melvin was soon laying on the ground. The other octoling grabbed a large rock he spotted and was intending to end Melvin's life.

"Oh no, he's going to kill him! I gotta do something!" shouted Marina to herself.

The octoling was now standing over the other holding the rock up asking him to align with him and the rebels but the octoling on the ground refused. The octoling was angered by this and was about to crush the other octoling when Marina aimed her Splatbrella at the octoling and splatted him before he could kill the other octoling. The octoling Melvin turned and looked at Marina with shock and relief. "You saved me," replied the octoling.

Marina closed her splatbrella and slowly walked over to the octoling. "I couldn't let him kill you, I...hated that I had to splat a fellow octoling," said Marina with grief.

"He was an octo rebel, you did the right thing. What's your name by the way. Mine's Melvin," said the octoling still grateful that Marina saved him.

"My name's...Marina," she said meekly.

"Marina, that's a nice name. I'm truly grateful that you saved my life. He...used to be my teammate until he turned on us and sided with the octo rebels. It's unfortunate he chose that fate," said Melvin before turning to look at the puddle where the octoling was slain.

"I hate what I had to do. He might have turned bad but still," said Marina with sadness.

"It was either me or him. He had a lot to answer for," said Melvin.

"You mentioned something about a recon team you were on. What were you doing?" asked Marina.

"Me and my team were assigned on a mission to spy on the rebels back in the canyon. We got ambushed and broke away. My friend Selena is still missing and so is the sarge. Obi ran into me and Selena only for us to discover he had defected to the rebels and caught us in a trap. I managed to escape but Selena...I don't know had happened to her. I gotta go back there and find her once I get a hold of the octarian base back in the valley," explained Melvin.

"That's horrible. I'm sorry about your friend and I hope you find her soon. The rebels have to be stopped before they attack Inkopolis. Once they do we'll be at war with one another again and I don't wanna see that happen. I don't want anything to happen to my inkling friends especially Pearl, my best friend," said Marina.

"Me neither but what are you doing out here anyway? Is this where you stay?" asked Melvin.

"No, I came here to get away from Inkopolis to clear my thoughts. This is where me and my friend Pearl first met. I just felt it was comforting to come back here. I don't remember that shack being there before though," said Marina.

"Me and my team were here before we went into the canyon. I didn't know what this place was so I came here to see if I could find a way to get help," said Melvin.

"Hello! Hello! Melvin! Come in!" shouted Sheldon on the radio startling both Melvin and Marina.

Melvin rushed over to the radio. "Yeah, I'm here! I got into a bit of a snag but I'm ok!" explained Melvin.

"You had me worried, I didn't know what had happened. I'm glad to hear you're ok," said Sheldon in relief.

"Well, thank marina for saving me," said Melvin.

"Marina?" replied a baffled Sheldon.

"H...Hey Sheldon, yeah it's me," said Marina meekly.

"Marina! What are you doing there!?" asked Sheldon in utter surprise.

"I can explain...I left Inkopolis after hearing that the inklings were about to go to war with the octarians. I didn't wanna get Pearl in trouble if they discovered she was embedding an octoling," said Marina.

"I guess that's understandable, but how would Pearl feel about you leaving unannounced like that. You've been friends for over a year," said Sheldon.

"I know but I don't want anything to happen to pearl because of me. I was just looking out for her is all. I don't want the inklings to go to war with the octarians!" said Marina in distress.

I'll inform Mar...agent 2 on the situation, just sit tight for now," said Sheldon.

"Thanks, Sheldon," said Marina.

The radio cut off and the octolings looked at each other wondering what to do next.


	66. Arc 3 Chapter 18

**Arc 3 Chapter 18**

At the Inkopolis Defense Force base, Flash and Kirk had just got done with their weapon training on the range. They went through a wide range of weaponry including the new splattershots, splat rollers, splat bombs, and other ink-based weapons. Flash did sufficient on the ranged weaponry such as the splattershot but wished we had is splat dualies while Kirk did well on the splat roller.

After the two got done they hung around outside the range talking about turf war games. "I hate to hear that you lost your last battle, bummer dude. I hope you find that girl Izzy and let her know you're sorry and all," said Kirk.

"Yeah, She's the reason I joined the IDF. Maybe if she saw that I'm willing to defend Inkopolis and put my life on the line, heck maybe be a war hero. Then she'll come back to me. Though my friends didn't like the idea and thought it was the stupidest decision I could make," said Flash.

"You joined to impress a girl. I hate to say this but I kinda agree with your friends. You shouldn't have made a rash decision like that. You've should've joined because you wanted to. Not to try and impress a girl that you don't know if she shares the same feelings as you do," said Kirk trying to reason with Flash.

"You sound like my friend Ben. I was hoping you'd understand where I was coming from Kirk, I didn't think an inkling like you would think I was a dumb squid too because I joined the IDF over Izzy," said a disgruntled Flash, disproving Kirk's attitude towards him.

"Dude! you're taking things out of context. I didn't say you were a stupid squid. I'm just saying joining the IDF over Izzy wasn't a smart idea," said Kirk defending himself.

"Well, I'm tired of listening to people. I don't care what friends may think. all I know is that I wanna win over Izzy's heart and if joining the IDF is the only way then..." started Flash as he was soon interrupted.

"You still stuck on that squid girl," said a voice.

The two looked to the source as Flash heard the voice. he knew it was familiar. Flash looked to the figure and he locked his eyes on them. "Ben!?" shouted Flash.

"Wait, you know that squid?" asked Kirk as he turned to Flash.

Ben had his arms crossed with a displeased glare at Flash. "I overheard your conversation and yes he should've listened to his friends," said Ben.

"Ben, what are doing here!? And why are in a uniform?" asked a stunned Flash.

"I went ahead and enlisted too, after all my dad is in the IDF," said Ben as he stepped closer. "Listen Flash, we've been friends since school and Me and Jazz have always watched your back and bent over backward for you. Jazz is worried sick and what about your family! I'm tired of coming to the rescue and it's time for you to find out what an ink head you are," said Ben as he pointed his finger at Flash.

"Just shut up and let me make my own decisions. I'm tired of people dragging me down and telling me what I should do. I didn't expect you to come here and brag to me about what a dumb move I made," exclaimed an agitated Flash.

"Well someone's gotta watch your squid ass! I'm always having to during the turf war matches. You wouldn't have made it without me and Jazz watching your back while you show off and go guns a-blazing. I'm sick off pulling your slack and so is Jazz!" shouted Ben angrily.

"I never asked for you guys to watch my back! I can handle it! So don't come at me for something I never asked from you guys!" shouted Flash again gaining the attention of the surrounding inklings.

"Guys! You're drawing negative attention! If the captain comes over here then..." explained a concerned Kirk to be interrupted by Ben.

"Me and Jazz don't count on you asking us when to step in and help you! That's what friends do! We consoled you and cheered you up after that falling out with Suki. We were there for you then! If you don't appreciate anything that we've done for you then you can SPLAT OFF!" yelled Ben in anger.

The inklings were soon spectating the verbal fight among Flash and Ben. The two were almost face to face both locking glares on each other, baring their fangs and balling up their fists. Kirk attempted to get in between them to break them up to be pushed away. He sat on the ground witnessing a fight that was brewing among the two inklings.

"I don't need you and Jazz!" jeered Flash.

"And we don't need someone who just treats us like crap!" jeered Ben.

The two were waiting for one or the other to land the first hit when all of a sudden a figure was pushing through the crowd. "I want all of you squid to disperse now! Privates! At ease and report to my office on the double!" shouted the captain who finally made it to the two inklings that were about to spar with one another.

Ben and Flash turned to face the captain, which in turn stopped their confrontation. The two of them stood at attention and saluted the captain before heading to her office as she demanded. Ben and Flash don't speak or even look at one another on their way there. The two of them finally make it to Captain Finn's office and shove one another to get inside first.

"What's this all about?!" demanded the captain who stood up from behind her desk. She was glaring at both inklings and was very displeased with their actions. "Answer me!" she ordered.

"Captain, it was just a personal dispute. It won't happen again," answered Ben.

The captain turned and looked at Flash who remained quiet for a moment. "Well, what do you have to say?" asked the captain.

"I'm sorry captain, It's just we've known each other and things just got heated in the moment. He was my friend but he insisted that I didn't join the IDF. He thinks I'm a stupid squid who can't be depended on to make choices on his own!" sneered Flash whipping a glare toward Ben.

Ben looked at him and bared his teeth. "You egotistical squid! We were just looking out for your well-being! If it weren't for me and Jazz you wouldn't have made it to rank A in the turf war games. We're always pulling your weight around. You..." said an angry Ben in an outburst but was cut off by an irritated captain.

She pinched her nose trying to refrain from clobbering both of them but instead yelled at the two of them getting their attention. "Shut up the two of you!" she yelled.

"Yes, Captain!" the both said in unison as they stood at attention.

"I don't wanna see or hear of this happening again! You're both soldiers now! So act like it whether you want to or not or so help me I'll make sure the both of you scrub the floors and toilets with your tentacles until you turn pale white! Got it!" she shouted.

"Understood!" Ben and Flash responded, startled by the captain's outburst.

"Good! Now I want you two to shake on it and makeup. You're both in the IDF and you will respect one another as you will respect the IDF and it's values," commanded the captain.

The two look at each other and force themselves to shake each other's hand. They pull off and cross their arms looking away from one another. "(sigh) good enough I guess but remember as I said not another confrontation or fight, understood!" said the captain.

They both nod and the captain crosses her arms behind her back slightly relieved at their resolve. "You're both dismissed, now get out of my office!" ordered Captain Finn as she turned and waved her arm facing away from the two inklings.

They give one a displeased look and walk out the door. Ben shuts the door and looks at Flash who's got his back toward him with his arms crossed. "(sigh) I hate its come to this. But it's either me or Izzy and apparently you've made your decision. I wish you luck," said Ben as he walked away from Flash.

Flash just ignored Ben who he heard walk away and turned toward him as he got further down the hallway. "I'm sorry too... this was my decision to make and if this is the only way of getting Izzy back then so be it," said Flash as he turned and walked in the other direction.

It appeared the two inklings wouldn't let their differences aside and went their separate ways. Flash walked out of the main building of the IDF HQ and Kirk approached him. "So... how did everything go?" asked Kirk.

"I don't wanna talk about," mumbled Flash.

Kirk nodded and Flash kept walking, heading back to the barracks. Not wanting to talk or be bothered. Ben made it to the end of the corridor and punched a nearby locker. "Stupid ink head! He's just making things worse for himself," said Ben in irritation. "(deep breath) I'm done trying to reason with him. If he wants to go off and get himself killed then by all means," said Ben before covering his eyes.

"Ben?" replied a voice in front of him. He uncovered his eyes and saw his father, Miles in front of him with a bewildered expression. "Dad," responded Ben.

"S...Son! What are you doing here? You should be at home and why are you in uniform... oh no...you didn't," said Miles.

"Yeah, dad... I joined the IDF but only because of Flash! He did this stupid stunt of enlisting because of this girl he met and..." started Ben only to be waved off by his father. "We'll talk about this later, you're in deep trouble and does your mother even know about this!?" asked his disgruntled father wanting a better explanation for his son's actions.

Ben turned his head down. "No," he answered to his father. His father gave a deep sigh of irritation and waved his son to follow him. "Come with me," he told his son as they both left.

* * *

Blake moved up to the second floor and into another lobby. He looked around and saw that the floor appeared clear. He headed into one of the rooms and heard an octotrooper patrolling the floor. He snuck inside the room with the octarians back turned but he stumbled on a can laying on the floor. This alerted the octotrooper as it jumped and turned around. "Huh!" it exclaimed. It spotted Blake and shouted "Intruder! The human is here!"

Blake shot the octarian with his new weapon. A burst of ink shot out and quickly disposed of the octarian as it burst into ink quickly. "Whoa!" shouted Blake at the weapon's high rate of fire. He moved up and heard more octarians move in on the second floor searching for Blake. Blake ran down another collection of rooms and heard another approaching octotrooper heading for his position. Blake got ready, hugging the doorway as the octotrooper appeared. He kicked the octarian off its platform and shot it on the floor. He soon heard more octarians on the floor.

"Fan out and search the area for that human!" shouted a twintacle.

Blake ran through the rooms until he ended back near the lobby he was first in. A small group of octotroopers spotted him. "There's the human! Fire!" one of them shouted.

Blake took cover behind the doorway as they launched a barrage of ink at him. Blake took any opportunity he could get, blasting at the octarians. He managed to kill one with two more spreading out to try and suppress his fire. One of the octotroopers attempted to flank Blake with the other one keeping the attention of the human on him. Blake tried to shoot at the octotrooper but had no luck. Soon he heard the other octotrooper come around the corner of a hallway in the room he was in.

"Trying to get the drop on me huh," said Blake as he left his cover and hid behind a turned-over desk. The octorooper came around and blasted the wall where Blake was but didn't see the human. The other octotrooper moved up to the doorway to meet up with the other one. "where'd he go?!" shouted one of the octarians.

Blake popped out from behind the desk and shot both octotroopers before they could react. "Dumb tentacles," sneered Blake.

Blake moved back to the lobby and spotted another flight of stairs going up. As he climbed the stairs he heard something coming down. There were octoballs rolling down the steps toward Blake. Blake shot the octoballs before they could smush him, leaving yellow ink puddles. He made it up to the next floor, once he got past the octoballs while Marie was on top of a building facing Tentacle Towers. She was keeping an eye out for any threats and she soon spotted approaching Octostamp DXs arriving. They parked in front of the main entrance and multiple octolings dismounted rushing inside the building.

"Oh No, Blake! More octolings have arrived. I hope you're ready to use that new special," shouted Marie over the radio.

"Thanks for the heads up! I've been slowly making my way up to the top this building, It's been full of octarians as well, so far I've been getting past them," said Blake over his headset.

"Well prepare to face more, I don't wanna give away my position until I start seeing you. I've noticed the walls toward the top are missing but I haven't sen any other octarians so far," said Marie. Soon three figures near the top floor walked down toward an exposed area on the building. Marie spotted them and looked down her charger scope. "Wait a minute, Blake, I see three...octolings near the top," said Marie. She continued to look at them. One was an octoling wearing a cape, one an octoling regular without a weapon with her arms behind her head, and the last one with a different style of tentacles. She was wearing the new goggles and had her octoshot aimed at the unarmed octoling.

"Hold on, I think I recognize one of the octolings it's hard to tell, she must the sergeant! She's being escorted down by two other octolings, I'm going to see if I can shoot them before they harm her," said Marie.

"Marie, wait! It's too risky, I don't want you taking a chance of missing one of the rebels or hitting the sergeant," advised Blake.

"What! I won't miss! You doubting my marksmanship?" said an irritated Marie.

"It's not that! I...don't want the rescue mission getting botched. I can make my way up and you can provide overwatch if anything should happen," said Blake defending his comment.

"(sigh) fine! Just trying to make things easier," said Marie.

The sergeant-major, Maxie, and Serena were on one of the top floors waiting for Blake to make his way up. "Once that human gets here and sees his little lover, he'll have to surrender. if he doesn't I wanna see her reduced to an ink puddle," said the sergeant-major turning toward Maxie and Selena.

"He's not my lover first of all! And second I know he'll outsmart a jaded octopus like you. I hope you he kicks you octobutt good you dumb broad," said Maxie.

The sergeant-major clutched the sergeant's tentacle as she yelped. "Listen here missy, I could just throw off this building right now and just ambush the fossil!" the sergeant-major sneered.

She pushed the sergeant back and she landed on the floor. "Hmpf... I'm not sure what you see in him and I'm not sure why the red queen wants him so badly," said the sergeant-major.

"Red...Queen?" jeered Maxie as she slowly sat up.

The sergeant-major remained quiet and looked up at Serena. "Get her up and let's move," ordered the sergeant-major.

"Yes, ma'am," said Serena as she pulled Maxie up.

As they continued, Serena whispered to Maxie. "Hang on Sargeant, as soon as her guard is down I'll get you outta here," she said.

"Let's hope you do before Blake gets here," said Maxie.

"Who's Blake? His he another octoling that got sent to rescue us?" asked Serena.

"I'll explain later, let's focus on the plan for now," said Maxie as they headed down a flight of stairs.

Meantime, Blake was shooting more octotroopers and a twintacle on the floor he was on. He spotted a room with the outer wall missing. He felt the outside breeze hit against his body. The large exposed room was empty and on the far side was where the ceiling had fallen down and formed into a ramp to the upper floor. He approached the ramp and soon spotted something on the upper end.

There were three objects above with glowing purple eyes. They ran down toward Blake. They appeared to be torpedo-like figures with legs and they were getting closer. "What the!" shouted Blake as he shot at them. They were octopods, literally running bombs that rushed at their enemies and then explode when they got close enough. When Blake hit one of them it exploded into a burst of ink causing the one beside to go off as well. But the last one behind them ran at Blake as he didn't have time to react. The octopod detonated and launched Blake back. He was lying on the ground in pain from the burst of ink. He attempted to try and get up and grab his weapon but he soon heard footsteps approach from behind.

A small group of octolings approached the doorway and aimed their octoshots at him. "Don't move!" shouted one of the octolings. Blake held up his hands in surrender as the octolings moved in on him and grabbed the rapid splatter beside him. After a moment three more figures showed up, above the ramp in front of him. It was the sergeant-major, the sergeant, and Serena.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," sneered the sergeant-major. Blake glared at the octoling and saw the octoling sergeant that helped him back at the Saltspray Rig. "Blake! Are you ok!" shouted the sergeant.

"I'm...ok...are you?" he asked covered in ink and jeering in pain.

"That's Blake? What on earth is he?" asked Serena in absolute shock.

"He's a human, Serena," said Maxie quietly before she turned back to Blake.

"Well, I hate to break up this touching moment but the Red Queen has been dying to meet you, not sure why," said the sergeant-major with indignity. "Get him up!" she ordered as the octolings grabbed and picked Blake up since he was covered in ink and nearly paralyzed by its effects.

"Get an octoseeker here now!" ordered the sergeant-major. "bring the fossil up to the roof along with the traitor," she continued as the octolings dragged Blake up the ramp. Serena guided Maxie up as well. Maxie had a look of remorse for Blake and Serena saw her expression unsure what to make of the situation of seeing a live human. The whole group made their way to the upper floor readying for the octoseeker to arrive and take them back to the rebel base.

* * *

Major Octsana was onboard the octoseeker headed back for the rebel base. She had lost the octozeppelin fleet to the Neo-Octarian army and managed to escape, failing the mission. She feared what would happen once she reported back to her leader DJ Octavio but at least the inkling agent was dealt with she thought as a side note. Soon her phone went off, it was the Red Queen calling. The major answered it, "Yes, my queen," she replied.

"How is the status with Octavio and the assault on Inkopolis?" she had asked.

"(deep breath) My queen...we lost the fleet and the assault on Inkopolis had been stopped by those valley turncoats. Someone has been on the inside leaking intel to someone back in Octo Valley. Don't worry my queen, I'll get the bottom of this and once I find out they'll..." started the Major before she was interrupted.

"A small set back..." replied the Red Queen.

The major was a little stunned by her response. "Ma'am?" she said. "Inkopolis isn't the prize, though the inklings will play a key part of our operation. I'm already ahead of the game just in case things don't go accordingly. I predict a retaliation from DJ Octavio and everything has been put into place once he continues his obsession of taking over the inkling capital. Octavio is playing right into my hand and once he's in position he'll be knocked off and you will assume temporary leadership until our operation is in its final stages. Once we have the human in our possession and the vault is opened we'll be in total control of everyone," said the red queen.

"But what about the octarian government? Anything we do and they'll stop it as long as a spy is giving up information," replied the major.

"We will deal with them once they come out. For now, you will continue the plans and follow Octavio's orders for the time being even if he's "veered off course". He will be of no use once our objective is complete and control of Inkopolis and the inklings will be under our command. After that we'll deal with Octo Valley, I've already made plans for them as well," said the Red Queen.

"My Queen...are we sure, we need to dispose of Octavio, I've been under his command for my entire..." started the major but was cut off. "You question my plans!? He is of no use after we take command of the surface! Whose allegiance do you fall under!? Mine...or his?" shouted the angered Red Queen.

"...Yours, my queen," replied the major.

"Good answer...Octavio has failed the octarians for far too long. We have been cooped up underground, fearing when the power will eventually run out. He has failed as a leader and it's time for a new regime to step in. Freeing him was essential for the operation and now he's pulling on his leash, thinking he'll break free and take command once again. I'll give some lead way but only so much. Octavio is narrow-sighted and fails to see anything past his blunders and thinks beating the inklings will solve all of our problems," said the Red queen.

"But the inklings are our enemy, why not let Octavio take command and defeat them as we should've over 2 years ago?" asked the major.

"Because the inklings will be under our rule but I have other things in store for the squid. Don't doubt my methods major. It has been me that's been supplying you and those rebels with equipment. You and those rebels would be nowhere if it weren't for my leadership, the Octarian government would have defeated you months ago if it weren't for my strategizing. Get that through your head Octsana or you'll be "replaced" and I'll find someone who will obey my commands and not question them. Understand!" shouted the Red Queen harshly.

"My apologies, it won't happen again. We will go through with the operation as planned," said the major.

"See that it doesn't. Continue back to base and inform Octavio about the attack on the fleet. Keep me informed of the situation and keep playing along with the big octopus," said the red queen.

"Roger, my queen," replied the major. The red queen hung up with the major clutching her phone as she bared her fangs in anguish. The other octolings saw her behavior and dared not bother her. Major Octsana gave a deep breath to calm down and placed the phone back in her pocket. She stood up and faced the rest of the octolings. "Once we arrive at base we'll inform Octavio about the attack on our octozeppelin fleet. Afterward, we'll follow further orders from our leader and hopefully restrengthen our forces and continue the assault without any setbacks," said the major. "We will continue our plans and squash those inkstains once and for all! The rebels will achieve victory and the octarian government will not stop us! All hail Octavio!" she shouted.

"All Hail Octavio!" the octolings shouted with their fists in the air.

"5 minutes until we reach base," shouted the twintacle pilot.

"I wonder how Octavio will take this news.," said the major. She was not eager to face Octavio knowing she had failed him, putting his trust in the major to lead the assault. Once the octoseeker landed the octolings dismounted followed by the major. "Everyone report to your stations and await further orders!" ordered the major.

The octolings saluted and departed. Major Octsana stared at the command center where Octavio resided. She gave a deep breath and headed toward the large facility, fearing what Octavio would do once he heard the octozeppelin fleet was defeated by the Neo-Octarians.

Minutes ago, a hand could be seen laying a phone down on a table. A large padded chair was being occupied by a figure behind it faced away. The chair swiveled around with the darkened silhouette of an octoling. Her appearance was shrouded by the darkness of the unlit room, only revealing her green eyes and red irises. She placed her hands together in discontent from the major's behavior from before she got off the phone with her.

The silhouetted octoling gave a deep breath and closed her eyes. "The major is proving herself to be unreliable. That human should be in our possession by now and the octozeppelin fleets should've done attacked Inkopolis. How much more will she prove her worthlessness," she said as she crossed her arms. She opened her eyes and turned her chair around facing a large screen. She stood up and walked over toward it. "She has one more chance to prove herself. If she fails me yet again then I'll have no choice but to decommission her permanently. I will not tolerate failure and she will be replaced by someone who can complete the task!" shouted the Red Queen.

She downed her head and crossed her arms behind her back. "Get ahold of my agent that is overseeing the unit sent to the vault. I wanna know what their progress is," said the Red Queen as she turned to her two guards in front of her desk.

"Yes, my queen," the two male guards said in unison.

* * *

Marina and Melvin were on Mt. Nantai talking about their life stories but Melvin was truly intrigued by Marina leaving the underground domes to look for a new life on the surface. She discussed about breaking free from Octavio's influence and starting a career in music with her friend Pearl. Melvin was astonished and had soon wished that someday he would do the same and explore the lifestyle of the surface and maybe find an inkling girlfriend too.

"I can't believe you left Octo Valley, so all this time you've been in Inkopolis. I've heard about octolings leaving and deserting to look for a better life. I can't blame them though. Life on the surface. The sun, the air, a new fresh adventure, maybe someday I'll do the same once the rebels are dealt with. (sigh)" said Melvin.

"Yeah, it was scary at first. I wasn't sure what to do or if the inklings would accept me or not. I was an engineer and weapon designer for the octarian army and now I was on the surface unsure how to start my new life until I met Pearl. Me and her met here as a matter of fact, on Mt. Nantai. She introduced me to the inkling culture and she asked me to be her partner," said Marina.

So you and Pearl are this band called "off the hook", I think you said. That's awesome, I'm glad you got to make friends with the inklings and left the valley. Maybe all of us octarians can soon be friends with the inklings again and live in peace," said Melvin.

"Me too, Melvin (sigh) I just hope Pearl will be alright. I...hated that I left her. She's like a sister to me. We've been thick as siblings for a while and now with everything going on I don't want anything to happen to her because I'm an octoling," said Marina depressingly.

"Yeah, you told me why you left, bummer. You said you came up here to clear your mind," said Melvin.

"Uh-huh, I thought coming back to the first place where me and Pearl first met would ease my troubles. I don't wanna go back underground. I like the surface and if the octarians find out that I deserted my post then they could lock me up or worse...have me splatted!" exclaimed Marina in distress.

"Marina, you gotta understand that you left because Octavio was enslaving us. There's a new octarian government and I don't think you'll be charged for any crime. They'd be crazy if they did. You had no other choice!" explained Melvin.

"Still, I don't wanna think that I have to go back to the valley because I'm an octoling. I like the inklings and Pearl is my best friend. I like my life on the surface and I worked hard to get where I was at," said Marina still stressing out.

"Well, I don't think you should Marina, You like life on the surface and you shouldn't have to go back underground. Why not go back to Inkopolis, I'll stay here and see if I get a hold of this Sheldon dude again, we've been waiting here for over an hour now. This is frustrating and I think I'm going to go take a walk," said Malvin as he got up and headed under the octopus archway by the shack.

As Melvin left, Marina headed over by the radio to retrieve her duffle bag she had hidden. She whipped out her laptop and placed it on the table. She pulled out a flash drive and inserted it. Multiple windows of data popped up on the screen from before when she was in her lab. "Well, I guess this will give me time to continue on my pet project," she said to herself as she typed away.

A minute passed by as she ran through the data she had collected from back at Pearl's. There was something that she didn't notice before. She looked closer at what appeared to be a diagram of a DNA strand. The strand was human from a sample she had taken back from Octo Valley before she left. "Wait a minute...this can't be..." she said to herself. She ran a side by side comparison to that of a oceanic DNA strand and looked at the two. DNA of an inkling and octoling were very similar except for a few codes that set the two apart but the human DNA on the other hand.

Marina shook her head and looked again. She frantically typed away and scrolled through the data again for anything to back the claim that she had just saw. She backed away from her laptop with a stunned expression. "If there's any truth to this then... this could change everything, even stopping the war. Is this why the octo rebels wanted Blake" said Marina.

Melvin was on the other side of the archway in the training grounds. He looked around and noticed how the area was laid out and spotted targets floating on the ledge. Was this some kind of training area he thought to himself. He looked back to the direction of the octopus archway and then thought to himself. "Who would train way out here," he said.

He turned back to the targets. "I wish I had my octoshot right now, then I'd catch up on my shooting skills," he said himself. He looked around and spotted something on the other side of the training grounds. They looked like weapons but he didn't recognize them. He octo formed and swam over. He changed back and looked at the ink-based weaponry that was perched on a rack against the wall as if they were ready to be used.

"These have to be inkling weapons. I've never seen weapons like this before," said Melvin as he grabbed a hero shot Mk2. He aimed it back at the training grounds and pulled the trigger. "This is cool, I wish the octarian army had weaponry like this," he said. "I don't even have my ink tank since I lost everything when I was captured by Obi. Octarian ink probably wouldn't work in this thing anyway, Still, I love to try it out," the octoling boy said as he placed the hero shot back down. He then looked at a hero charger and grabbed it.

The hero charger was heavier and longer. He looked down the weapon, admiring it when all of a sudden a voice shouting his name caused him to jump and almost drop the hero charger as he fumbled with it. "Melvin!" shouted the voice as he turned around and saw Marina looking at him. "Melvin, you shouldn't be messing with that. We don't know who it belongs to," she said with her hands on her hips.

"I was just looking at it. I've never messed with inkling weaponry before, that's what I assumed they are anyway," said Melvin.

"Well, I wasn't sure what you were doing but their's something I want you to come look at," said Marina as she waved him to follow. The two left the training grounds and through the archway. They headed over to Marina's laptop. "This is what I wanted you to see," said Marina as she sat down and turned her laptop toward him. He hunched over the table and looked.

"What am I looking at exactly?" he asked dumbfounded.

'Its DNA, you know our genetic makeup," replied Marina.

"Sorry I slept through science class, explain it to me," said Melvin as he rubbed the back of his head.

Marina shook her head and turned the laptop back to herself. "In layman's terms, it's what we're made of. This is octoling DNA and this is inkling DNA," said marina as she pointed at the two DNA strands on the monitor. Melvin looked at the diagram. "Yeah, they're similar. So what?" he asked.

She popped up another window that showed a human DNA sample. "This is human DNA, specifically of a sample I got back in Octo Valley. Look at it and then look back at the oceanic DNA," she told him. Melvin placed his hand under his chin. "OK, they look similar too...wait a minute, did you say human?" he asked before backing away slightly stunned at what he saw.

* * *

On the roof of a building facing the tentacle towers was Marie frantically looking for any sign of Blake. She heard fire and then an explosion on the headset followed by a scream and then nothing. "Blake! Blake! Come in!" she shouted on her headset. "Blake please come in!" she shouted again. She was deeply concerned and looked down her scope to find Blake or any octarians. She feared that he was captured or worse...dead.

Blake was being dragged up by the octolings. Serena was guiding Maxie up in the front while being led by the sergeant-major. "Blake...don't worry...you did your best and that's all that counts. I know you're stronger than this and I know we'll escape once that time comes," said Maxie quietly. Serena heard Maxie and looked back toward the sergeant-major, she knew right now that their opportunity to get away may have been narrowed.

"Once, we get back to base, detain the both of them. The human will be handed over to the red queen once she hears the human is in our possession and as for the traitor...execute her!" sneered the sergeant-major.

Blake was slowly getting his strength back as the effects of the ink was slowly wearing off. His squidwatch suddenly came on with the symbol of two inkling silhouettes showing up, signaling the ink decoy special was activated. Still weary he attempted to move his arms. With all of his stamina he managed to break free as he broke from the octolings grasp. He kicked the octoling that had a hold of his rapid splatter 3000 and grabbed once she hit the floor.

The other two octolings jerked back and quickly aimed their weapons at him. "You're outnumbered human! Don't even think about it!" shouted one of them.

"You think so, well I gotta trick up my sleeve (literally)," said Blake as smashed the squidwatch and three ink-based clones of himself appeared. "What the!" shouted the other octoling as they were shocked by the ink decoys appearing.

Blake aimed his Rapid Splatter at the octolings as well as the decoys. "Shoot them!" shouted the Sergeant-Major. Blake and the decoys opened fire on the octolings splattering one while the other managed to splat one of the decoys leaving two and Blake. He took cover as he fired at the other octoling while the other decoys followed his movement. One of the copies shot at the remaining octoling while she exchanged fire, causing them both to splat at the same time.

Blake laid his splatter down as the other decoy was all of a sudden splatted by the octoling he kicked while he got his weapon back. He shot as she sat on the floor with her octoshot aimed where the slain decoy was and Blake splatted her before she could shoot him. Another ink shot was fired and struck the Rapid Splatter out of his hand and sliding off the ledge of the building and down below.

Blake was disarmed and was facing the Sergeant-Major with her octoshot pointed at him. "Neat trick fossil but you've run out of luck," sneered the sergeant-major. She then turned the weapon on Maxie who was being held beside her. "Surrender now! And I won't turn the redhead into a puddle!" she commanded.

Blake held his hands up in defeat. "Please don't...I...surrender. Just let her go. It's me you want," said Blake. Seeing his nobility, Maxie felt deep remorse. "Blake..." she said to herself.

"Aww, how noble of you, but no doin'...you're in no state to make demands...now come here!" she shouted waving her octoshot at him. Blake approached with his hands still up. She grabbed him by the collar and glared at him. "I think you should pay for killing my troops. If it weren't for the Red Queen I would've shoved you off this building fossil," she sneered coldly before striking Blake in the head with the octoshot. "Get up and let's go!" she shouted. Blake got up and she shoved him with his octoshot toward the rooftop.

As the group headed to the rooftop Marie saw them through an exposed portion of the building. She saw the three octolings and Blake being forced in front of them at gunpoint by the caped octoling rebel. "Oh no, Blake!" exclaimed Marie seeing Blake had been captured.

"I told him I should've taken the shot," she said in aggravation.

She took a deep breath and looked back down her scope. The group stopped and the sergeant-major turned toward Serena and Maxie. "There's no sense in taking them both. You know what, go ahead and execute the sergeant here," said the sergeant-major.

Serena looked nervously at the sergeant-major after she gave the order. "I see it fitting that your old teammate should shoot you with the human watching that you admire so much," said the sergeant-major. "Do it private!" she ordered to Serena.

Serena hesitated for a moment and gulped. She aimed her octoshot at the sergeant's head and was nervously clutching the weapon. "I gave you an order, private...now shoot her!" she barked.

Serena nodded her head and tried to think of a way out. "No! Don't shoot her!" shouted Blake.

"Did I ask for your input fossil!" sneered the sergeant-major. "SHOOT HER! NOW!' yelled the sergeant-major at Serena.

A shot rang out and Blake was frozen by fear of what had happened. He saw a small splatter of ink in the direction of the three octolings and closed his eyes not wanting to see the outcome but things were not what they seemed. Serena was struck by Marie's charger and fell down dropping her octoshot. Her goggles also flew off across the floor with the sergeant and sergeant-major froze in shock of what just happened.

"SERENA!" cried Maxie.

"What the!" shouted the sergeant-major as she turned to the source of the shot and saw Marie perched on the rooftop across the street.

"Sniper!" shouted the sergeant-major as she grabbed Blake and used him as a shield. She took her octoshot and fired at Marie from over Blake's shoulder. Marie quickly took cover and hunkered down. "Tell your inkling friend to stand down! Now!" shouted the sergeant-major as she held the weapon against Blake's head.

"Why don't you just shoot me now and get it over with!" jeered Blake. The sergeant-major knew that Blake needed to stay alive so she aimed her octoshot at Maxie who was kneeling down trying to hold back her tears.

"Then how about I shoot your friend then," said the sergeant-major.

"Agent 2 stand down!" shouted Blake over his headset. Marie had no choice but to cease her actions and comply with the command. "You got what you wanted, now let the sergeant go!" jeered Blake as the octoling still had her arm around his neck. "How touching that you're willing to stick your neck out for this turncoat, guess I see why she has a thing for you. It won't matter anyhow since the rebels will declare victory over those inkstains and valley traitors," said the sergeant-major.

"I'm sick of people like you and the rebels! I've lost many friends to people like you back during the great turf war! I was hesitant back then but not anymore, don't think I won't kill you if you so much as harm my friends!" sneered Blake with a furious expression.

"So bold, empty threats from an extinct race. Remarkable that you've survived all this time. Maybe that's why the red queen wants who so badly but very well... I'll spare the little redhead. Her demise is coming as well as the rest of them eventually," said the sergeant-major.

The sergeant-major slowly took her weapon off Maxie and clubbed Blake in the back of the head dazing him to ensure he didn't put up a struggle.

Maxie rushed over to Serena's body. She had a green ink splat on her armor and wasn't breathing. "Serena! Serena! Answer me!" shouted Maxie shaking Serena's body. "Serena, No!" jeered Maxie as she started to cry over seeing her friend get killed. Maxie soon turned toward Blake and the sergeant-major as they were making their way toward the roof. "Blake..." she said but then turned back to Serena's lifeless body unsure what to do.

Marie peered out from cover and saw Blake and the rebel on the far side of the floor, bound for the rooftop. Marie aimed her charger at the two and wanted to stop the sergeant-major but her hands shook the charger and she couldn't find it in herself to take the shot and chance hitting Blake. "Dammit!" she shouted in defeat. She placed her charge behind her back and squid formed. She squid jumped across the building to the tower where Maxie was crying over Serena.

She walked over to the sergeant whose face was darkened. "Are you ok?" she asked the sergeant. Maxie clenched her fist after hearing Marie's voice and turned to her with a furious expression , baring her fangs at the inkling with tears in her eyes. "OK!?" she shouted as she quickly grabbed Serena's octoshot and shot at Marie. Marie jumped back to avoid the ink fire. She quickly pulled out her Hero charger from the altercation.

Marie saw the octoling was apparently furious with her, but what? "Hey! I just saved your ass!" shouted an agitated and confused Marie.

"You killed my friend!" jeered Maxie baring her fangs and locking her eyes on Marie. The octoling was outraged and was in no mood to be reasoned with.

"Friend? But she had her weapon on you!" exclaimed Marie still having her guard up.

"She was acting! Waiting for an opportunity to catch those rebels off guard! You didn't see her halter after that..." shouted Maxie as tears were forming in her eyes.

"Listen, me and Blake came all this way to rescue you, I didn't know! Now, lower your weapon! " ordered Marie.

"You inklings are all alike, you take and take more from us. I should've never let Blake go with you! Now he's been taken and my friend is..." jeered Maxie before she shot at Marie.

Marie rolled out of her shots and lined her charger upon the enraged sergeant. She shot the octoshot out of the sergeant's hands. She charged at the octoling and attempted to kick her down but the octoling grabbed her and threw her against the wall knocking the charger out of her hand. Marie was laying on her stomach while Maxie looked at the charger and kicked it out of Marie's reach. She shook her hands and grabbed Marie and hemmed her up against the wall. She was strangling the squid sister as she bared her fangs intending to end the inkling that killed her friend. Marie was thrashing and finally punched the octoling in the face as she pushed her down. she took the opportunity to grab her charger and knock her down with it. She had the octoling pinned to the floor.

Maxie opened her eyes and saw the barrel of the charger aimed at her face. "Go ahead! Take my life you squid! You've taken everything else!" shouted Maxie with tears coming.

"Why do you hate us so much? What did we ever do to you!" shouted Marie in anger over the octoling attacking her after trying to save her life.

"What's it matter! You've taken our pride, our freedom, my friend and now..." said Maxie trying to contain her emotions.

"Ungrateful octopus! You speak of if you're the only ones that have lost anything! You've taken my sweet cousin from me! You sound just like Octavio!" shouted Marie in anger.

"Don't compare me to that tyrant! Damn squid! Just shoot me and get it over with!" yelled Maxie in an outburst.

Marie saw how much despair the octoling was in and felt some sympathy for her. Marie gave a deep breath and pulled the barrel off the octoling's face. Soon a mumble got the two's attention. They looked over and saw Serena was starting to move her head. She mumbled again and opened her eyes.

"Serena?" replied Maxie as she looked at her friend with astonishment.

Marie was at a loss of words thinking that the shot should have killed her but fortunately, it didn't. The young octoling slowly sat up still in pain from the shot as she held her chest. Serena coughed up ink and gasped for breath. "Serena!" shouted Maxie as she hurried to get up and rush over to her friend.

"Maxie," she replied.

"Serena! You're alive, I'm so glad you're ok!" shouted the sergeant as she embraced the octoling she thought was dead.

"Oww, ow, ow, Serena not so hard... I'm still hurt," said Serena still in pain.

"Oh, sorry private, I'm just glad to see you're not dead, but how did you survive?" asked Maxie.

"It must be the new armor we were issued," replied Serena but the shot I took, it still hurt I think I need to be treated and soon," said Serena.

Maxie was still wearing the old octoling armor but Serena was issued the neo-octoling armor. The armor managed to stop the ink from punching through but still caused inner trauma on body. She was still affected by the charger shot being how powerful it was.

"She's going to need some medical attention, I'll get a hold of Sheldon and see if he can pick us up. I'll get her treated back at Mt. Nantai. It's the best I can do since I'm the one that shot her," said Marie.

"Thank you so much, I'm...so sorry for what I did, I was consumed by rage after seeing you shoot Serena...I thought I would never see her again," said Maxie in deep remorse as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"It's...ok...I forgive you, I know about loss and I would feel the same way if I were in front of Octavio right now after taking Callie away from us," said Marie.

"I think I saw your cousin back at the rebel base, she was lying motionless on a bed. I'm not sure what they were doing to her," said Maxie.

"That's why we wanted to come and rescue you. We were sure you knew where my cousin and hoped you could lead us to her," said Marie.

Maxie looked back at Marie and nodded. "I'll help you get your cousin back since you've offered to help Serena," said Maxie as she stood up. She held her hand out to the squid sister as a sign of truce and trust. Marie looked at her for a moment and gave a smile. She shook the octoling's hand and Maxie had a smile come across her face as well. "I hope...we can be friends after this," said Marie.

"I do too," said Maxie. "You inklings aren't all bad...I need to get over my animosities and look to a better future, a future where our races can come together, let's stop this war and stop Octavio and his goons!" exclaimed Maxie.

"I'll get Serena, you catch up to Blake before that octopus gets away with him," said Marie.

"I will! take care of Serena," said Maxie as she picked up the octoshot and chased after the sergeant-major and Blake.

Marie looked back at Serena who was fighting to stay conscious. "It's ok, I gotta friend coming to get us. I'll get you treated a soon as I can and I'm sorry I shot you, I thought you..." started Marie as she kneeled down to the octoling.

"It's ok, you were looking out for the sergeant and I can respect that. You didn't know," said Serena as she gave Marie a smile.

Marie smiled back and the two of them waited for Sheldon's arrival as the sergeant pursued the octoling and human she hid her feelings for before the octoseeker got there.


	67. Arc 3 Chapter 19

**Arc 3 Chapter 19**

The group of inklings left the information station and headed back to the metro station to wait for the subway to arrive. Cassie and Cuttlefish were still pondering about the film they had watched and wondered what that human was saying. "I wonder how much longer until we start getting some answers? That film we watched wasn't a big help at all but it does support the fact that this place was built by humans...but why? Why under Inkopolis and why hasn't anyone else known about this place?" asked Cassie.

"I don't know agent 3, I've got a bad feeling in my tentacles about this place. I just hope the bucko and your friend are having better luck than we are. I'm just ready to get outta here," replied Cuttlefish.

Cassie then turned to Cleo who had plopped down on a bench. "So any thoughts?" asked Cassie.

"I got nothing. I'm just as baffled as you are. I only met C.Q. Cumber, it's not like I went sightseeing when I was down here. Maybe C.Q. Cumber has some answers. Why not ask him," replied Cleo.

"I still feel she's not telling us everything. What is she hiding and I'm wondering why she really didn't want us down here in the first place," Cassie thought herself as she headed back over to Cuttlefish.

20 minutes had passed since they left the information station and waited for the subway to return. Soon they heard the subway horn echo down the tunnel followed up by the headlights shining down the tracks until it reached the station and stopped.

"It's about time that sea slug got here, I was starting to get stir crazy," said Cuttlefish.

The doors slid open and the inklings got onboard. The door to the other car opened with the sea pig conductor crawling out to greet the group. "Well, how was it?" asked C.Q. Cumber. The inklings looked at each and turned back to the conductor.

"Well...good I guess," said Cassie rubbing her head. "Listen...C.Q. Cumber, you know more about this place than we do and I'm sure you know that it was built by humans. What can you tell about this place and what about Kamabo?" asked Cassie.

The sea pig turned his head and paused for a moment. He turned back to Cassie who was anxiously waiting for an answer. "Missy, I'm sure what to tell you. I hardly leave this train. My job is to direct it wherever it goes. I can't recall anything else before I became a conductor. All I know is to follow the instructions I was given by my employers and keep the metro running. I'm sorry but that's all I can tell you," said C.Q. Cumber.

"Oh...then I'm sorry we've bothered you. I was thinking you might have known something being down here and all," said Cassie.

"No hard feelings but I did need to give you this before I take you any further," said C.Q. Cumber as he handed Cassie a document and a map of the metro stations.

"What is it?" asked Cassie.

"A resume and a list of guidelines. Only Kamabo employees can proceed to the stations ahead but with the exception that I place you in an internship, I guess you can say. Officially you'll be placed on a trial run as I take you to the stations where you will have to complete some tests, then you can find out more about Kamabo. Oh and one more thing before we depart. Once you complete a test you will receive a Kamabo token, these tokens allow you to unlock mem cakes in the vending machine at the back of the car," said C.Q. Cumber as he pointed toward the back of the passenger car.

They looked and saw a crane machine full of mem cakes, cakes shaped like a variety of different items and characters. "Wait, I never noticed that before but what are mem cakes?" asked Cassie.

C.Q. Cumber just shrugged and left for the front car. "Good luck," said Cuttlefish as the door closed behind him. The group looked at each other again and then turned to the documentation. "Well, he said something about tests, I wonder what he meant?" asked Cleo.

"I don't know, but now I'm starting to get a bad feeling like Cuttlefish did. What do you think cap..." said Cassie as she turned and saw that Cuttlefish was fast asleep in seat snoring away. Both girls gave a look of exasperation and Cassie face palmed as Cleo shook her head. "Old geezer," she popped off before sitting down.

"(sigh) oh, captain," said Cassie as she sat next to him. "Well, I guess we'll find out what these tests are," said cassie as the subway moved and headed for the next station.

It was ten minutes before the gang reached the first station, Station A off the red line according to the map Cassie was given. Cleo removed her headsets and stretched as Cassie woke up Cuttlefish. C.Q. Cumber's voice came over the intercom. "To all passengers, we've arrived at Station A. Remember to watch your step and clear the doorway once you've exited the train. That is all," he said.

The doors slid open and the inklings walked out. "So, this is Station A," said Cassie.

"I've never been down this far, I'm curious about what's ahead," wondered Cleo.

"Lass, be careful. I'm not sure what this place has in store for us so keep your wits about you," said Cuttlefish as he placed his hand on Cassie's shoulder.

"I'll be fine captain. I defeated the octarians so I'm sure I can handle anything Kamabo can throw at me," said Cassie.

"Remember Agent 3, this isn't the octarians your facing. We don't anything about this company other than it was created by humans long ago. They could pose not only a threat to us but everyone else. Don't let your guard down just because you defeated Octavio 2 years ago," said Cuttlefish.

"I won't. it may be best you stay here captain," said Cassie. She then turned to Cleo. "So are you coming or staying?" she asked her.

"Coming of course. Somebody's gotta watch your back plus I'd rather stick with you than the old squid any day," said Cleo.

"I heard that you whippersnapper, I might be old but that doesn't mean I won't give you a good whack on the noggin for your disrespect," said Cuttlefish agitated as he waved his cane around.

The two girls continued on before Cleo got hurt as Cuttlefish's agitation resolved. "Youngins have no respect for their elders these days, just be dissin' this old homesquid," said Cuttlefish as he spouted some slang at the end before heading back to the train car. As he stepped inside, on the other side of the station an old antique looking telephone stood alone to itself. Cuttlefish peered out of the window and looked at the old phone. "Huh? Where did that phone come from," he said. he pulled off his glasses to clean them and when he placed them back on his face, the phone disappeared.

"What the... where did that phone go? Was I seeing things?" asked Cuttlefish to himself. He shook his head and sat on the bench before he fell asleep. Meanwhile, Cassie and Cleo had walked through the main entrance of the testing area of Station A where the first trial would begin. They approached what looked like a spawn pad, curious they stepped on it and the machine hummed and liquified them into ink and shot them to the next location further into the testing area.

A large chamber full of floating items, that appeared to be an assortment of objects, presumably human technology that was scattered about. A trail of floating platforms and other things lead to another large circular platform in the center of the chamber where a giant grey cube hovered in the center and slowly rotated. The cube had lines running across to form a grid-like pattern with the Kamabo logo on each side of it. The two inklings popped out of a pad at the far end of the pathway and looked around.

"What is this place?" asked Cassie.

"I don't know but I guess we're supposed to head down there," said Cleo pointing toward the platforms ahead.

The two headed through the floating platforms skipping across gaps in their squid forms until they finally made it to a small elevator that would take them down to the giant cube. When the elevator dropped the two approached another platform with a gate on it and a speaker on top. Cassie went to open the gate but the speaker screeched causing them to jerk back. "Salutations, subjects! Welcome to Station A where you are to complete the first test of the deepsea metro. As you can see a giant rubix cube has been placed over the center platform. You are to coat the entire cube with ink before the timer runs out. two more rounds will follow suit but it will become more challenging as you progress. After you complete the test you will receive a subway token where you may purchase a mem cake with it. Before you move on to the test only one of you shall enter the area. That is all. Peace out!" said the static-like voice on the speaker.

"Who was that? Test? Ony one of us?" asked Cleo.

"I think I should be the one to go," said Cassie.

"Alright but be careful, he said the test would get more challenging," said Cleo as Cassie left for the giant rubix cube. She stepped onto the platform and stared at the giant cube. "Just coat it with ink? Piece of cake," said Cassie snidely.

"Begin!" shouted the static voice again. Cassie coated the whole cube within 30 seconds leaving another 30 seconds on the timer before it ran out. "Excellent! 2 more test to go!" shouted the voice again.

"Well that was easy," said Cassie.

The cube spun rapidly clearing all of Cassie's ink. The timer started again and cassie went to shooting ink but the cube spun quicker this time and the floor under Cassie vibrated and soon dropped. Cassie yelped and squid jumped off the fallen floor. "Don't stand in the same spot for too long subject!" advised the voice.

Cassie hopped over and shot more ink at the cube. She continued this routine before the timer went out. she barely managed to complete coating the giant cube before her time was spent. "Well Done! last test!" shouted the static voice.

like before the cube cleared itself of ink. The cube moved faster and not only did Cassie have to worry about dropping floors but also electrodes that rotated around the arena shooting a beam of electricity across the floor. "I hope you won't be too shocked by the final test!" shouted the voice with a pun. Cassie was fretting as the test proved difficult. She gained her pride back and went to work away at shooting at the cube that was now spinning fast and hard to coat with ink. Cassie avoided the floors and jumped over the electric lines. Time was halfway spent and Cassie was still behind. She did her best to evade the obstacles and continue coating the cube until she fell through a floor panel. "Cassie!" screamed Cleo but the inkling agent grabbed a hold of the ledge and saw the electric line was headed toward her. She hopped and narrowly avoided getting jolted and inked the last bit of clear area of the cube as she squid jumped and shot in midflight in her biped form causing an epic moment in the last test.

"Test complete! Outstanding work! Here is your token. You may move along to the next station," the voice shouted over the speaker. The cube opened up revealing a subway token hovering in the cube with the Kamabo logo on it. Cassie grabbed it as Cleo cheered. The agent headed over to where Cleo was. Cleo rushed in to hug Cassie. "I thought you were a goner there for a moment but I knew you could do it," exclaimed Cleo as she let go. Cassie brushed herself off and turned to Cleo. "Let's get back to the station. I think you should do the next test. I really don't wanna do that again," said Cassie in exhaustion. They both headed back to the subway station where Cuttlefish was waiting on them.

* * *

Maxie was racing to save Blake while Marie attended to Serena. Maxie made her way to the next floor as she saw octotroopers move in obstructing her path to save the human and catch up with the rebel sergeant-major. "Get out of my way you stupid tentacles!" she shouted. She shot at the octotroopers not realizing that the ink she was using was untampered. When she hit the octotroopers it phased them momentarily. She growled and rushed toward them as they fired at her. She dodged and evaded their fire. The octoling got into a rhythm of fighting stances and kicked and punched the little troopers off their platforms. She quickly moved on and spotted the two at the far end of the next floor.

Blake finally came back to his senses and realized that he was being dragged by the sergeant-major. He had been temporarily stunned by the rebel that clubbed him with her octo-shot. He shook his head and spotted Maxie at the other end of the floor fighting off the octotroopers. Blake broke free from the sergeant-major's clutches once he gained back his stamina and cut a flip kicking the octoling back. Stunned by the surprise attack, though she recoiled from the blow and aimed her octoshot at Blake.

She growled at the human as he stood in front of her with a serious expression. "So...not giving up without a fight are you, fine by me but I assure you that more reinforcements are on the way," said the sergeant-major.

"I'm not holding back anymore, I'm tired of you rebels hurting my friends and taking back what doesn't belong to you. I never wanted to fight you octarians during the great turf war and I didn't want to fight you now but you've given me no choice. As a squidbeak agent, I have a duty to fulfill even if that means harming you," said Blake.

'Harming me, please. You honestly believe I feel threatened. I will break you in half fossil, like I'll break every single one of those inkstains," sneered the octoling. She fired her octoshot at Blake but he leaped out of the way and took a swipe at the sergeant-major but she countered him and launched an uppercut followed by a kick. Blake was knocked to the floor by the well-trained rebel. "Ha! Is that all you can do? I was expecting a fight," boasted the sergeant-major.

Maxie saw that Blake was in trouble and ran toward the two only to be struck in the back by an octotrooper that appeared from behind her. She yelled and fell to the floor on her stomach as she dropped her octoshot. Blake slowly got up weakened by the attack but the octoling grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him toward the ledge of the floor where the outer wall was missing. Blake was now at the edge being hung by the octoling's arm. "Seems the sergeant is persistent in saving her mate. Pity. It's a shame I have to report back to the red queen, that I was unable to retrieve the human but accidents are bound to happen, especially in a place like this. Let's see if you can survive the fall," said the sergeant-major intending to let Blake go.

"Blake...no!" shouted Maxie. She sat up and turned to shot the remaining trooper off its platform then aimed her octoshot at the sergeant-major. The shot hit her in the shoulder only to cause her to let go but Blake lost his balance and fell back on the ledge as he yelled. "BLAKE!" she shouted dropping the octoshot and rushing toward the edge to grab Blake as the sergeant-major gripped her shoulder and rushed toward the rooftop for the octoseeker to arrive.

"Blake!?" she shouted. The sergeant saw that Blake was hanging on a steel girder just below the ledge. "Blake! Give me your hand!" she commanded him.

Blake swung his body until he latched to her hand. She pulled him up to the ledge until his weight caused her to fly back with Blake still holding on. He was thrown to the floor with the octoling sergeant laying on top of him face to face, nose to nose. She quickly opened her eyes and yelped realizing she was on top of Blake as she jumped off of him. Blake sat up and rubbed his head. He then turned to the embarrassed octoling. "Thanks for saving me, Maxie. I guess that makes us even," said Blake with a half-smile.

"Well...not necessarily, you let yourself go so that...octotramp wouldn't kill me...that was a noble thing to do," said Maxie meekly as she fondled with her tentacle and still blushing.

"You're my friend Maxie and friends don't let other friends get killed," said Blake as he stood up to reach out and help the sergeant. She smiled and grabbed his hand as he boosted her up. "Now, we got a sergeant-major to stop!" said Blake.

"No Blake! You're unarmed and this is between me and that octo-witch. I need you to stay here so I can finish this," said Maxie.

"I'm not letting you fight her alone! We do this as a team, I might not have a weapon but that doesn't mean I should be out of the fight," protested Blake.

"I'm ordering you to stay here! I don't want anything to happen to you! I've done put you in enough danger and I couldn't live with myself if something were to happen," replied the sergeant.

"I can handle myself! I've been in worse situations and besides, you need someone by your side. This is my fight too, what's this really about?" asked Blake.

Maxie paused for a moment as she saw how heroic Blake was and willing to put his life on the line to make sure his friends stayed safe. "Look Blake...it's...complicated, that's all I can say, so please I need you to stay here," she said.

"Not good enough, I'm going with you whether we want me to or not," protested Blake again. Maxie gritted her teeth and downed her head wanting to express some of her feelings toward the human she admired. "Have it your way," said Blake as he started to walk toward the rooftop but was stopped when he was grabbed by the arm. "Fine, you win," she said. "I shouldn't stop you from doing your duty...it's just, I don't wanna see anything happen to you but you've proven yourself and I should have a little more faith," said Maxie as she gave him a smile. Blake smiled back and stuck his hand to shake hers.

"No hard feelings, I understand how you're concerned about me, like I am for you...now let's go get her," said Blake.

Maxie nodded and shook his hand as the two tailed the rebel to the rooftop where she was waiting to be picked up.

"Where's that octoseeker at, It should've done been here!" the sergeant-major shouted angrily on her radio.

"ETA in 10 minutes," said the pilot over the radio.

"Hurry up!" shouted the octoling.

Blake and Maxie finally reached the rooftop and spotted the sergeant-major. "Surrender! There's nowhere left for you to go!" shouted Maxie with the octoshot pointed at the rebel.

"You don't give up, do you? I applaud your persistence but I'll never surrender! Stoping me won't end this war and you, the squids, and those valley turncoats will get what's coming to you and there's nothing you can do to stop it!" shouted the sergeant-major. She fired at Maxie who took cover as well as Blake. The octoseeker was in view as the sergeant-major gunned down the two to bide time for the aircraft's arrival.

Maxie rose out of cover and fired at the rebel as she took cover and returned fire. "Blake! We can't let her leave! We need a plan and I'm about out of ink!" exclaimed Maxie.

"I'm not sure what to do, I'm unarmed," said Blake. Blake checked himself and found one last splat bomb. "Wait...I've got one splat bomb left," said Blake.

"Then let's make it count. I'll pin her down and you can throw it behind her," suggested Maxie as Blake nodded.

"On 1...2...3!" counted Maxie as she pulled up and shot toward the octoling. Blake stood up and lobbed the bomb at the sergeant-major. As he did Maxie's gun ran out of ink. "Oh, crap!" she shouted. The sergeant-major spotted the splat bomb headed for her. "Oh no you don't!" she shouted and shot the splat bomb deflecting it back toward Blake and Maxie. The two of them took cover followed by a burst of ink. The octoseeker flew in and the hatch opened. The sergeant-major rushed onboard and faced the two who took cover from the ink blast.

"Well, it's been fun! But I got places to be, ta ta! Oh and one other thing I wouldn't stay on this building if I were you. It's rigged just in case things took a turn for the worst," the octoling sneered as she blew a kiss and pulled out a detonator.

"You're not getting away that easily!" shouted Maxie as she hopped over her cover and threw her octoshot at the sergeant-major as the aircraft lifted off. "Maxie!" shouted Blake watching her run up toward the octoseeker. The octoling just gave a smug grin but was cut short as Maxie lunged and knocked the rebel down causing her to drop the detonator before she pressed the button. Maxie was on top of the rebel taking swipes at her knocking ink out of her mouth as she punched her in the face.

The sergeant-major kicked her off and she reached over to grab the detonator. "Say goodbye to your fossil boyfriend!" shouted the sergeant-major as she held it up. Maxie turned and kicked it out of her hand. The two of them got into a fierce scuffle as the octoseeker twirled around as the pilot panicked from the fight. Blake watched in horror fearing the craft would eventually lose control and his fear became reality. The pilot couldn't keep the octoseeker balanced as it flew toward the rooftop of the building. Blake took cover and watched. Onboard the two octolings were holding on to the wild ride as it spun out of control. The detonator flew in the air as the rebel caught it. Maxie lost her grip and flew out of the hatch as she screamed. "Maxie!" shouted Blake seeing his friend fly out of the descending octoseeker.

Blake ran to catch Maxie as she octo formed in the air and landed in Blake's arms. The octoseeker fell toward the ground as the turbines caught on fire. The sergeant-major screamed as she knew there was no way to escape her imminent demise. As soon the aircraft hit the ground it exploded killing the pilot along with the sergeant-major. The detonator flew from the wreckage and landed on the ground on top of the button.

Blake had the little octopus nestled in his arms. She looked up at him and blushed. She quickly hopped off and changed back to her other form. "(sigh) well...it's over, I suggest we get out of here before..." she said but just then the building rumbled, followed by a blast from the bottom of the tower. The charges detonated causing the structure to become unsound. "We gotta get off this building!" shouted Blake as the two of them stumbled from the shaking. "Look! Over there!" shouted Maxie as she spotted a scaffold elevator. "That's our fastest way, I just hope it still works," said Maxie. The two rushed over and Maxie pressed the button. The elevator lowered down but was slow paced. "Oh, c'mon you piece of crap!" she shouted banging on the panel. Soon the rebel reinforcements spotted them from the lower floors and shot at them. Blake and Maxie took cover as both of them were weaponless. The ink rocked the scaffold as it soon disconnected off the cable and dropped quickly as they both screamed on the way down as the scaffold descended but the pulleys caught the wire before it reached the bottom and got stuck.

"We gotta jump!" shouted Blake. The building rocked again from another loud explosion as the rebels scrambled out of the building realizing it was about to collapse. Blake dropped down followed by Maxie in her octo form. The two darted down a nearby alleyway before the building finally collapsed as dust and debris were shooting down the alley as the two raced to escape it. They hugged the wall at the end of the alley, narrowly escaping. Both of them bent over to catch their breath. "So, where to now?" asked Blake.

"For starters, how about we get out of the city before they find us," said Maxie.

"Sounds like a good idea, you lead," said Blake as the to of them rushed away.

* * *

Major Octsana was keeping her eyes on Octavio as he hemmed her against the ledge of the circular platform that centered in the main chamber of the staging area. He didn't take the news well of finding out that the zeppelin fleet had been wiped out by the Neo-Octarians. The major had her arms up trying to reason with Octavio before he decided to push her off the platform where she would fall to her death. "Give me one reason I should keep you around, squirt?" he asked her coldly.

"Octavio, my liege, I didn't expect the valley traitors to show up and attack the octozeppelin fleet not to mention that inkstain agent. Please my king! I won't fail you again..." she said desperately before Octavio grabbed her by the neck with his tentacle and hung her over the ledge.

"I should drop you right now! Failure is unacceptable you have 5 seconds to persuade me to spare you!" exclaimed an enraged Octavio.

"Octavio please!" she tried to shout but was struggling to breathe. "That inkstain has been dealt with and the human should be in our possession by now," she tried getting out.

"Are you sure the agent is dead and what does the red queen want with that bonehead anyway?" demanded Octavio as he was slowly dropping the major down, intending to lose his grasp on her.

"(gasp) yes, my king, I watched her fall to her doom and as for the human, the Red Queen won't tell me what her intentions are for him," she answered still grabbing on to Octavio's tentacle. Octavio gave the elite a hard look before throwing her against the platform, sparing her life. She weakly got up and rubbed her neck as she caught her breath.

"I'm regathering our remaining octozeppelins and leading the assault on Inkopolis myself! You find out who this Red Queen is and what she is planning! There's only one octopus running the show around here and won't have her ruining my plans to take over the surface! As for the fossil, make sure he shares the same fate as that inkstain agent! Now go before I change my mind and throw off the stage!" boomed Octavio.

"Y...Y...Yes, my king!" she stammered before octo forming and rushing out of sight. She ran out of the staging area just far away enough to stay out of Octavio's sight. "I won't risk facing him again, I fear I won't be so lucky next time. This ruins everything, I won't be able to accompany him during the attack on those squids. I'll have to inform the Red Queen and devise another plan to stab that octopus in the back once phase one of the operation has been completed," said Octsana as she pulled out her phone.

Minutes of talking to the Red Queen. She was displeased of the situation. "Do what you can to ensure that overgrown octopus is taken out of the game! Octavio might have spared you but I'm not so generous. Sneak aboard on one of the octozeppelins if need be and stay out of sight. Once his guard is down and the fleet has taken control of the city, stick a blade in his back and give the signal. From their report back to me and I will send you to the vault and check on their status," ordered the Red Queen.

"What of the octarian government. I'm sure they'll send their army to stop once again," said the elite.

"Do not worry about them, They'll be dealt with," replied the Red Queen. "Focus on dealing with Octavio and falling through on completing phase 1 of our operation. You best not fail me again because it will be your last," said the Red Queen.

"Yes ma'am, I'll be sure to deliver the final blow to Octavio," she said before the Red Queen hung up. "I've got a knife pointed at me from both directions, but the red queen's is bigger. Time to figure out a way of sneaking into the assault on Inkopolis. I can't allow Octavio to see what I'm planning. I'll gather some grunts who will take orders from me without questioning my directives. From there all I have to do is wait," said the elite as she left.

Meantime, Izzy was opening her eyes. She was staring at the ceiling and then looked around her surroundings. She appeared to be in a shack of some sort but it was not Cuttlefish's. She sat up and shook her head. "Where am I?" she asked. Still sore from her previous hard landing she struggled to move around and got up. She jeered and sat back on the bed. "My achy body, all I remember is falling toward the canyon below, I watched those octozeppelins get shot down but..." said Izzy as she held her head.

She soon heard footsteps approach behind a door before it opened. Izzy stared, wondering who it could be, possibly the ones that brought her their in the first place. Two octolings walked in and Izzy went wide-eyed. She quickly grabbed her hero shot off the table and aimed it at the two octolings. "Stay back!" she shouted at them.

"Whoa! Easy! We're not gonna hurt you!" shouted one of them waving her hands.

"Liars! You're octolings, what else would you..." started Izzy as she aimed her hero shot at them.

"Relax! if we wanted to kill you then we would've already done it squid!" shouted the other one in irritation.

"You...make a point but where am I and what do you want?" asked Izzy still on guard.

My name is Indigo and this is Luna," said the octoling with purple tentacles as Izzy noticed. Luna smiled and waved at the inkling agent as Izzy awkwardly waved back and gave a fake smile. "We saved your life back at the dome you were in. I assumed you were the one that took down a whole fleet of octozeppelins," asked an anxious Luna who admired Izzy for facing the octo rebels.

"Well not quite. I managed to down some of them but these other octozeppelins came out of nowhere and began shooting at the octo rebel's zeppelins. I didn't know what was going on? All I can recall is fighting an octoling elite, I met her before, back when I was captured by Camper and his gang but anyway she escaped on an octoseeker. She dropped me to the canyon below and that's all I can remember everything else is kinda blurry," said Izzy.

'They must have been the Neo-octarians. I wasn't sure if they intercepted my message or not. I caught wind of them planning something for Inkopolis. I figured it was the only way to stop them and keep them from starting a war with the inklings. You're damn lucky squid that you didn't end up being calamari. Me and Luna came back to see if the rebels were defeated or not and saw your body laying on the ground. We thought you were dead until Luna checked your pulse. We brought you back here so you could recover," explained Indigo.

"So you guys saved me, but why? You're octolings," said Izzy who was grateful but confused.

"We're not rebels if that's what you are insinuated. We're a group of outcasts, deserters and the like I guess you can say. You're at the gypsy village as we named it," said Indigo.

"Gypsy...village?" responded Izzy still confused.

"It's where we take in octarians that were disposed of out of the army or just left to find a better life, especially after Octavio's defeat 2 years ago. The army was left in disarray while others tried to get to the surface. The army split into two entities. The octo-rebels who were against the peace treaty and the Neo-Octarians who formed the peace treaty. The octarians I guess you can say are embroiled in a civil war. We're the octo-outcasts and we've tried to stay out of it but that doesn't mean we'll stick our necks out to make sure that the inklings and octarians can live in peace. That's why we've dyed our tentacles purple as a sign of neutrality," said Luna pointing at her head.

"Octo-outcasts? So you're not with the rebels, I assumed all the octarians were bad. I never would have guessed that there were some good octarians. Thank you for saving me and I'm sorry I almost shot you guys, my name is Izzy by the way," she said as she gave a grin.

"It's fine squid. I noticed you're wearing a squidbeak outfit, that was the first thing that we saw when we spotted you back at that dome. I assume you're a squidbeak agent non the less and you're here to stop the rebels and get the great zapfish back," said Indigo.

"Yeah, I'm a squidbeak agent. How did you know? And how do you know about me trying to get the great zapfish back if you're not octo-rebels?" asked Izzy who was slightly suspicious.

"(deep breath) Because me and Luna...used to be in Octavio's army before he was defeated. We faced a squidbeak agent back then but we managed to get away and fell back to our base. After Octavio was subdued and the great zapfish was brought back to the inklings. We escaped for the surface but didn't think the inklings would take us in so we decided to come to Octo canyon and formed the gypsy village and took in more octarians that left as we did," explained Indigo.

"Yeah, I'm glad we're not in the army anymore. It sucks that the rebels are still pushing Octavio's agenda though. We support what the Neo-Octarians are doing but we still wanna stay out of the war. We prefer to not shoot our own kin even though their still following orders from Octavio. We were hoping that they'd see the error in Octavio's ways and defect. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened as they're still very loyal to Octavio if not brainwashed," said Luna.

"You mentioned another agent, you must be referring to Cassie, she defeated Octavio years ago and got the great zapfish back," said Izzy.

"Well, she killed many of my friends! But I've put that behind me and looked to a future where our races can live in harmony. I don't hold anything against you but the past has still left some scars. I wish all of us saw the tyrant Octavio was back then but loyalty and fear blinded us," said Indigo.

"Well, why don't you help me stop him and the rebels. I know you don't want to fight them but how else are you going to make sure the inklings ad octarians can live in peace if you do nothing?" asked Izzy.

"We don't wanna get directly involved plus someone's gotta stay here and make sure the octarians are taken care of. Me and Luna have been scouting and making sure any rebels are dealt with and their operations are impeded through less lethal means. They may be bad but I would rather not kill any of my people, loyal to Octavio or not," said Indigo with her arms crossed.

"I understand, I guess I can't blame you. You've dealt with enough when you fought under Octavio. Well, thanks for taking me in even though I'm an inkling. If you'll excuse I gotta mission to complete," said Izzy. As she jumped off the bed she jeered in pain again.

"Hang on squid," you're not ready to get back in the fight again. I suggest you stay and rest some more. I'll have Luna bring you some food and water until you get your strength back," said Indigo as she grabbed her and laid her back on the bed.

"(sigh) I guess your right. I'll stay here until I don't hurt anymore. I don't know how I can repay you guys," said Izzy as she was grateful for their help.

"You don't have to worry about that. We don't mind at all taking care of you. Just get some rest and when you're done come out and met the rest of the village," said Luna.

Izzy smiled and laid back in the bed. "Alright, we'll be back in a little while to check on you," said Indigo as the two octolings headed out the door. Izzy was perplexed by her generous octoling saviors but wasn't sure about them. They seemed very friendly but being octolings she kept her eye out and pondered what to do once she got her strength back. She knew she still needed to get the great zapfish back. She slowly fell asleep as she laid in the shack.

* * *

It was the middle of the night and a human figure was struggling to sleep knowing that an attack on the sanctuary was inevitable. They sat up and turned to the edge of their cot. He gave a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead as he dwelled on their dire circumstances. His name was Deacon, the human that accompanied Marcus yesterday. He stood up and walked over to a drawer to retrieve his handgun. He examined it then holstered the gun. His left eye turned amber and glowed in the dark room.

"I can't stay knowing that bastard is out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows," said Deacon. "I can't let no one see me leave, this is something I gotta do on my own," he continued.

He walked out of the small building he slept in and looked toward the sky. In the dead of the night, he left for the decrepit city ruins as if he was on a mission. Meanwhile, Marcus like him was unable to sleep as he sat next to the campfire and dwelled on the possibility of an attack by their enemies. He soon stood and paced for a little while. His mind was filled with uncertainties and feared the fate of his home and the people. He decided to go ahead and talk to Deacon but didn't realize he had left.

Marcus knocked on Deacon's quarters, after a moment he didn't receive an answer so he opened the door and looked inside. "Deacon?" responded Marcus. He saw that Deacon was missing. "Deacon, where are you?" he asked. He walked to look for any clues of where his friend had gone. Footsteps could be heard running up toward the doorway as a young man rushed up toward Marcus. "Marcus!?" he shouted.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked the male.

'Where's Deacon?" asked the male seeing that Deacon was missing.

"I don't know? What's the urgency?" asked Marcus.

"One of the guard towers spotted a figure walking away from the main gate. I wanted to let you and Deacon know, should we assemble the troops?" asked the male.

"No! I don't want to alarm anyone, just have everyone on standby but don't alert them. It could be Deacon since he's missing but why would he just leave like this?" asked Marcus.

"You...don't think he's..." started the male but was soon interrupted Marcus. "Don't go saying such shit! Deacon would never..." shouted Marcus defending his friend.

"Yes, but we all know of his past, I don't wanna believe it either Marcus. I just hope he doesn't take advantage of our situation and sell us out in the end to save his own ass," said the male.

"Deacon is a trusted friend and ally. He wouldn't go back to them and he certainly wouldn't hand us over to them after he told us of why he defected in the first place. He saw them for what they were and what they were doing. I wouldn't have saved him if I knew he couldn't be trusted. They left him to die and I brought him back," argued Marcus.

The male nodded and took off to gather some men and put them on notice. Marcus looked around before leaving the building. "What's going on Deacon? You've been acting funny for the past few days," said Marcus.

At that time Flint and Stone were inside the shop welding plates on their jeep to armor it up. Flint was cutting the steel plates as Stone welded them on the off-road vehicle. Rock music was blaring on the boombox as the two of them worked. "Alright, pass me another plate," asked Stone.

"Here you go bro," said Flint as he handed it to him. "Hey! I was thinking about some other ideas for the jeep..." said Flint.

"Like what?" asked Stone as he started welding.

"how about a turret on top with a flamethrower, that would be badass, wouldn't it?" said Flint.

"Dude, that would just add weight and put a strain on the motor plus it would make it top-heavy. I don't wanna roll over in this thing and get myself killed. What do you think this is mad max," said Stone.

"Technically yeah, I thought it would be cool," said Flint.

"(sigh) right now, I just wanna get it armored before the green eyes attack sanctuary. Everybody thinks it's gonna happen soon and I wanna be prepared if it does," said Stone as he finished welding the plate. Just then Marcus ran in the shop followed by the male from before. He spotted Flint and Stone piddling with the jeep. "What are two idiots doing? What did you break now!?" scolded Marcus.

"We didn't break anything! Just doing some finishing touches on the jeep, you know before we get attacked," explained Flint.

"It's late and two should be in bed. Deacon is gone and I need the keys to the charger!" exclaimed Marcus.

"The keys should already be in it, Marcus. What do you mean Deacon is gone?" asked Stone.

"No time to explain. Just get your asses to bed and report for duty in the morning! It's gonna be a long day tomorrow," said Marcus as he hopped in the armored muscle car and cranked it up. The other male with him jumped in the passenger side. He peeled out of the shop and out the main gate to go hunt for Deacon.

The two coughed from the smoke and fanned it with their hands. "What's his problem? and why would Deacon just leave us?" asked Flint before coughing some more.

"I don't know but I guess we'll have to finish this another time. We're gonna need all the rest we can get if Marcus thinks we'll get attacked tomorrow," said Stone.

"Fiiiinnne," said Flint in annoyance.

The two cut off the boombox and left the shop to go sleep. Stone was concerned about Deacon's disappearance.

half an hour later, Deacon was roaming an empty street on guard. The moonlight lit the ground and the surroundings. He scanned the buildings watching for any movement. The rattling of a can being kicked echoed down the street from ahead. Deacon stopped and listened for any more noise. After half a minute he continued walking. He knew someone or something was watching his movement. Ahead up the street was a store and at the corner of his eye a silhouette ran inside the store. he whipped out his pistol and cautiously approached the store with the pistol drawn. His eye glowing amber was tracking movements and heat signatures revealing it to be a bionic eye.

He walked inside and started scanning. There were no traces of life been but he knew something ran in. "I know you're here," he said quietly to himself still scanning the room. He stepped on broken glass and debris littering the store floor. he managed to reach the back of the store and spotted a door to the office. The door slowly creaked open and Deacon reached for the knob with the handgun ready. He rushed with the handgun up. The room was empty but another figure across the room was watching him enter the office.

"Nothing here," said Deacon. He started to walk out but was met with a laser beam aimed at his chest. Deacon saw it and looked to see a silhouetted aiming a weapon at him followed by gunfire. He dove back in the office as bullets littered the wall. "Shit!" jeered Deacon. He got up and hugged the doorway taking shots at his assailant but they rushed out of sight. Deacon rushed out and behind a toppled shelf. "Son a bitch," he said with frustration.

he soon heard something hit the floor near him then it rolled closer. he spotted a grenade heading towards him. He quickly dove away from the blast followed by smoke as he coughed. Footsteps ran toward his position as a figure rushed him and slammed him against the wall behind them. Deacon fell to the floor and reached for his handgun only for it to be kicked away. He looked up and saw his foe reach down and grab him, slinging him across the floor. Deacon yelped as he landed on his back. The figure approached him and placed their foot on his chest.

Deacon looked and saw the figure looking at him with one glowing green eye. "Been I while Deacon, we've got a lot to catch up on," said his assailant in a rough voice. The moonlight through the ceiling shined on the figure's head as Deacon's eyes widened. "Vagrant," responded Deacon.

The moonlight revealed his assailant a bald-headed human male in his 30s. One of his eyes was normal but the other was black with a glowing green iris. He drew a pistol on Deacon and gave a smug smirk. "I thought you were dead Deacon but I guess I was wrong. You're gonna soon wish you were," the bald-headed male said coldly.

"You sorry bastard. I can't believe after all this time you would go along with their plans after what they've done. I won't let you do the same to the sanctuary and those innocent people," sneered Deacon as he attempted to get up but Vagrant had him pinned.

"Is that how you greet an old friend. You're not seeing the big picture Deacon. You're the one that left yourself for dead. Treason is punishable by death, you should know that and as for the sanctuary, they're all as good as dead," sneered Vagrant as he chuckled. Two more armed figures approached from behind and aimed their weapons at Deacon. Both of their eyes glowed green as they gazed at Deacon and gave a gargled grunt.

"Take him," commanded Vagrant. The man stepped off Deacon and walked away as one of the other figures butted their weapon against Deacon's face, knocking him out. The figure picked his body and dragged him off following Vagrant. The noise of a motor approached the store with headlights beaming down the street. An armored muscle car made a hard stop as Vagrant and the group rushed out and away from the vehicle as to not get spotted.

Marcus jumped out with his weapon shouting "Deacon! Deacon!" He ran up to the store and rushed inside but Vagrant and his guards were gone with Deacon in their possession. "Deacon!" shouted Marcus but it was too late. Another male ran into the store from out of the armored car. "Marcus, did you find Deacon!?" exclaimed the male.

"No... I fear something's happened," replied Marcus as he spotted shell casings on the floor. "Is...he..." said the male fearing the worst.

"I think he was taken, I can only assume it was the green eyes. We gotta head back to Sanctuary and warn everyone. I fear their goin' to attack us soon if they did take Deacon," said Marcus.

"But why take him?" he asked.

"To interrogate him, find out our vulnerabilities. How many of us there are, our movements, weapons... any way to defeat us," said Marcus.

They both headed back to the vehicle and left for Sanctuary to warn the militia about Deacon's capture and the imminent attack that was coming. Before Marcus got in the vehicle he looked back at the store. "Deacon, stay strong...we'll find you," he said as he got in the car. They peeled out and drove back to the walled settlement to focus on the coming battle ahead of them. Would the remaining humans survive the attack by the green eyes, still being plagued by the loss of morale and supplies and a mysterious virus that preyed upon their weak. The sanctuary was about to placed under the ultimate test of survival and how much longer would Marcus and everyone else hold out?


	68. Arc 3 Chapter 20

**Arc 3 Chapter 20**

After Maxie left to go stop the sergeant-major. Marie stayed back to tend to Serena who was critically injured and needed medical treatment right away. She packed Serena on her back and carried her downstairs of the tower without running into any opposition. They finally reached down to the second floor on one of the balconies that was overlooking the main atrium of the first floor. Then all of a sudden she heard the running of footsteps and a squad of octolings ran through the main entrance of the building. She quickly ducked behind the guard rail of the balcony and watched the octoling rebels. "Fan out and secure the building!" shouted an elite among the group. The regulars nodded and octoformed. They dispersed throughout the main floor leaving the elite by herself guarding the main entry.

"Damn it, I'm not gonna get past that elite unless I shoot her," said Marie. She sat the unconscious Serena against the guard rail and threw up her hero charger toward the elite. "I gotta make this shot count or we'll never make it out of here," said Marie before taking a deep breath. She looked down her charger, placing her crosshairs on the elite's head and pulled the trigger. POW! The shot hit its mark as the elite's eyes rolled back and she fell to the floor before splatting into a green ink puddle.

"Alright, now to get out of here before they come back," said Marie. Serena was mumbling as she laid against the railing. "I gotta get her back to Mt. Nantai as soon as possible. I'll radio Sheldon once we get outside and further away from this place. I just hope Maxie can stop that rebel octoling before she gets away with Blake," said Marie as she picked Serena back up.

Marie walked out of the main entrance with Serena carried on her back. She spotted an alleyway off to the side and followed it to the far end. It was there she decided to lay Serena down again and get a hold of Sheldon on the radio.

"Sheldon come in, this is agent 2," said Marie over her headset.

"Agent 2! I was beginning to worry about you. I haven't heard from you in a while. Did you ever find Blake?" he asked her.

"Yes, but he got caught in a trap set by the rebels. Maxie went to catch up to their leader to get Blake back and now I'm carrying a hurt octoling that's in critical condition and If I don't get her to Mt. Nantai she won't make it. I'm located in the abandoned city in one of the domes. Meet me on the outskirts so you can get us out of here," ordered Marie.

"Wait, Who's Maxie and you said Blake got captured? Why you carrying an octoling with you?" said a confused Sheldon.

"I'll explain once we get back to Mt. Nantai. Just get the truck and meet us down here Sheldon. There's no time to waste. I gotta get this octoling back before she dies," said Marie.

"OK, I'll warm the truck up and meet you once the drone spots your location," said Sheldon.

"Thank you Sheldon, like I said we'll be waiting somewhere out of the city, Agent 2 out," she said as she got off the radio. She turned toward Serena, looking over the octoling. "(sigh) This is gonna be a long walk to the rendezvous point. I just hope I can save her in time if those rebel's don't find us first," said Marie as she picked Serena back up along with her hero charger. She looked down the streets and didn't see any octolings in sight. It was vacant and quiet and she took this opportunity to make her way down, hopefully without getting spotted.

In the near distance on a building facing the street. An octosniper was perched on the rooftop, watching the squid sister carry the octoling on her back. Moving cover to cover. It waited for Marie to get a little closer as to make sure that it could get a bead on the inkling. "Just a little closer, inkstain," it said to itself. It raised the weapon being fed from it's mouth up and toward the squid sister. "This is gonna be too easy," it gloated.

Marie was almost at the end of the street when all of a sudden something didn't feel right. She froze in place for a moment and then spotted a laser beam on her chest. She looked up and saw the octosniper aiming towards her. "Say goodnight squid!" it shouted before shooting. Marie was struck and fell back, dropping Serena and her charger. Marie was immobilized for a few seconds. Thankfully her armor protected her. The octosniper saw her still moving and she sat up. "What! I'll make sure you stay down next time!" it sneered. Marie fought to stand back up and rushed for her charger when another ink shot was fired from the octarian, missing her and hitting the ground in front of her.

The octosniper growled in frustration, seeing it had missed Marie. She ran behind the closest cover, leaving Serena laying in the street. Marie tried to line a shot on the sniper but it shot at her again causing her to take cover. It then turned its focus on the motionless Serena. "If I can't hit you then I'll take your friend!" sneered the octosniper not telling she was an octarian herself. The octosniper lined its laser on Serena's body and Marie knew she had to shoot the octarian.

"Targeting a defenseless girl! I don't think so!" shouted Marie. She drew her weapon out and took a deep breath. The octosniper was about to pull the trigger before it was it was struck. It's eyes rolled back as it shot randomly at the air and fell off before splatting into a puddle. "Phew, another second and Serena would have been dead," said Marie. She rushed back over and grabbed Serena. As she started to walk away the sound of an explosion followed by rumbling grabbed the attention of the squid sister. She turned around and saw Tentacle Towers collapse in a cloud of dust.

Her eyes widened and her face turned to that off fear and uncertainty. "Oh no, Blake! Maxie!" She shouted in distrees. As she watched the building fall she reassured herself. "No, they... probably got out in time, I know they did. Marie stay focused...you gotta reach the outskirts so you can get Serena back to Mt. Nantai. I just hope Sheldon is on his way," said Marie. She turned back and headed off with Serena on her back while she still dwelled on the outcome of Blake and Maxie.

The both of them were nearing the outskirts of the city to what looked like the industrial area. It was decrepit compared to the rest of the abandoned city and littered with all kinds of debris. Signs and flyers were strewn across the ground reading: "We want the power back!" or "This is our home!" signs of what at one time was a protest of octarian workers being laid off and forced to relocate out of the dome before the power shut down.

"Agent 2 this is Sheldon, come in," shouted the crab over the radio.

"This is Agent 2 go ahead," she replied.

"I have some good news and some bad news," said Sheldon.

"Oh great, give me the good news then," said Marie with slight irritation.

"My drone finally spotted you. I thought I'd never find you two. Talk about a needle in a haystack," said Sheldon.

"Ok, so what's the bad news? If things weren't bad enough," asked Marie.

"Well...I, can't the truck to start. I'm trying to fix it right now and I can't tell you how long it'll be before I arrive to pick you up," said Sheldon.

"What! Sheldon, right now Serena needs medical attention soon and the rebels I'm sure our scouring the city for us. I don't wanna be here much longer if I can help it. I hope you get that bucket of bolts running soon. I don't know how much longer Serena can hold out," exclaimed Marie.

"Marie I'm doing the best I can! You'll just have to bare with me, oh and also I forgot to mention you'll have some company once you reach Mt. nantai," said Sheldon.

"Company? What kind of company? Is gramps and agent 3 back from their mission?" asked Marie.

"No...you mentioned about the octoling girl your carrying. Well theirs's two octolings sitting at Mt. Nantai. One accidently got in contact with me. He said he's in the octarian army and the other one you know," said Sheldon.

"Octolings? What are they doing up there? And what do you mean I know the other?" asked Marie.

"You'll find out when you get there. Now I gotta get off the line so I fix this bucket of bolts as you put it. I'll be there in two shakes of a salmonids tail. Don't you worry," said Sheldon.

"That's reassuring. (sigh) Just get here soon. We won't have much longer," said Marie.

Sheldon got off the radio and returned to work on the truck. Marie patiently waited for Sheldon's arrival when she saw figures move across the street. "What the...oh no. Sheldon, it's been two shakes. I hope you get here soon," said Marie seeing the octolings move in on her position. She placed Serena behind a crate before squid jumping on top of the warehouse to get a vantage point on the converging octolings. "I pray we make it before Sheldon gets here. Blake I hope your ok, you have to find Callie and get her back," said Marie before looking down her scope and aiming at her first target outside the gate.

Meantime at the cephalon HQ deep in Octo Canyon. Octavio and the rebel army were making the final preparations for the assault on Inkopolis. Their leader, Octavio was sitting in his Octobot King robot observing the rebels loading up the octozeppelins with the hypnowave emitters that would be dropped around the city to place the inklings under his influence like Callie. The rebels were in formation and making sure all their weapons and gear were ready before the attack on the city. A group of octolings beside Octavio turned to their leader who garnered their attention.

"Is everything in place for tonight?" asked Octavio.

"Yes, my liege. All octarians and the octolings have been assigned to load aboard the airships once you give the word for us deploy and make our way to the city. As you requested the emitters have been loaded as well and octo paratroopers have been directed to be first ones to drop once the emitters are in place. The recon unit you requested has also already left to scout out for any threats and ensure that nothing will halter our progress once we're over Inkopolis," said the elite among the group of octolings.

"Excellent, before nightfall the octozeppelin fleet will take off for the city. Those inkstains will regret ever sentencing us underground to suffer and be denied what rightfully belongs to us. This will be the day that the octarians will rule over those wretched squids and take back the surface. We will finish what has been started long ago and the hipsters will be helpless at the whim of our control. The will witness the idol they so love and adore only to be used for their demise. Once they are under the influence of the hypnotic voice of the old hipster's granddaughter, they won't dare resist. Victory is assured and no one, not event her cousin, Cuttlefish, or the agents will stand in our way," boomed Octavio before laughing.

"Octavio, sir...what about Major Octsana...with her skills and expertise, surely you should give her another chance..." suggested the elite. When just then Octavio gave her a glare and swiped her with his tentacle.

"Did I ask for your lecture squirt?! I asked if my army is ready! As far as the major is concerned she has been removed from this operation for questioning my decision making... like you did. Or do you need to be replaced as well or how about I just turn you into an ink puddle in front of your unit," sneered Octavio as he loomed over the elite.

The regulars trembled as the elite slowly got up. "N...No sir! It won't happen again. I'll finish checking up on the troops before the attack," stammered the elite who was nervous with Octavio and recoiling from the blow.

"See that it doesn't. NOW GO!" shouted Octavio waving his tentacle and scaring the octolings.

"Yes, my king!" shouted the elite as she saluted and they all octoformed out of Octavio's sight.

"Anymore suggestions from anyone and I'll make an example out of them. I'm running this show and will have no one else interrupt me. Disloyalty is inexcusable and subject to punishment!" sneered Octavio before leaving to the assembly area on his robot.

On the other side of the octozeppelin bay, behind one of the airships the group of octolings and the elite that was struck by Octavio were talking to Major Octsana who had been hiding and staying out of the scenes. "So what's the plan?" asked the elite among the group.

"The plan is to go along with the operation to take over Inkopolis. Once the emitters have been placed the signal frequency will be reset allowing for the Red Queen's signal to be broadcasted through the emitters instead of Octavio's disguised in the music he will be playing. After that the inklings being under the queen's influence without Octavio's acknowledgement and we move in on him before he figures it out. It's at that moment we stab him in the back literally and take control of the octobot and hack into the inkling's network and run the Red Queen's message throughout the city," explained the major.

"What's our assignment after we take control of the city? What about the squid sister? She'll still be under Octavio's influence and I'm sure will stay on guard before their performance," asked the elite.

"No need to worry lieutenant, We'll deal with her like we'll deal with Octavio. She is of no use to use once we start going into the final stages of the operation," said the major.

"OK, what about the octarian army and what her human crush?" asked the elite again.

"The red queen has plans for them as as far as the human goes. The sergeant-major was assigned to capture him and bring him to the Red Queen for "assimilation"," replied the major. "Once we do reach the final stage of Operation Teal Dawn, I'll be heading to the vault and checking their progress per orders from the Red Queen. We cannot complete the final stage of the operation until we get inside the vault. I assure you though, victory is ours like Octavio said but unfortunately for him he will not be a part of the new world to come that the Red Queen has promised us. Soon the promised land will become a reality and the war will be won my fellow octarians," said the major.

"Do you seriously believe that the Red Queen will bring about this promised land. I mean that's just a fairy tale every octoling hears to sleep better at night. I'm beginning to question this Red Queen. She won't even reveal her true identity. I know Octavio is ruthless but I really question the motive here. We've never had luck in getting inside the vault and we don't know what's in there. Did she even think this plan through?" asked the critical elite as the regulars agreed with her.

"You listen here lieutenant. We've been planning this for months and you wanna back down. We've already scarified enough resources and time into this operation not to mention our soldiers who died in the line of duty. It's too late now, Octavio will figure out our plans if we don't continue with the scheme not to mention the Red Queen will have our heads if we don't fall through. I won't allow you to question the operation as the consequences are too great and commitment is too rewarding. Giving up and backing down, not to mention disloyalty is not in our ink," said the disapproved major.

"Very well major. I just hope you know what you're getting into. As far as I'm concerned its not too late to follow Octavio even those he's a despot. Regime change can be good but also be bad. I hope the Red Queen follow's through and not deliver some empty dreams," said the elite.

"Just continue with the plan and avoid suspicion. Gather some troops that aren't so loyal to Octavio and have them meet me outside the last octozeppelin before our departure. We will go over the plans and our final blow to Inkopolis and the inkstains not to mention the dethronement of our so called king. Operation Teal Dawn will commence as planned and we will continue to follow the Red Queen's orders. Is that clear?" asked the major sternly.

"Yes, major. We will continue as planned. Once the fleet moves out and Octavio is in the lead. We will report back to you," said the elite.

"Good, now make haste before anybody catches us. I'll leave here and report to the Red Queen of the progress," said the major before octofroming and leaving. The other octolings gathered up the troops she wanted and continued through with the preparations of the assault on the inkling capital.

"Black Knight to Red Queen," said the major who was on her octophone.

"Go ahead Black Knight since you interrupted me of some important matters. You better have something good to tell me," said the Red Queen.

"My apologizes but I wish to inform you about Octavio's plans to attack Inkopolis and enslave the inklings. I have gathered a group of octolings I can trust that will help me stow away onboard the last octozeppelin as the fleet pulls out. We'll continue Octavio's operations until the emitters are in place and Octavio will be left vulnerable. We'll reset the signal from Octavio's to yours without his knowledge and it's then we'll betray Octavio as he begins the performance in front of the city square as the inklings are subjected to the hypnowaves," explained the major.

"Can you be sure you trust these octolings? This operation cannot get blundered over the word of some troops that you may think have your unyielding loyalty. Stay mindful and make sure our plan enters fruition as well as making sure Octavio is taken out of the picture for good. he has shown that he cannot be trusted and poses a threat to our plans. Our world cannot become a reality with him still in charge. Make sure he is dealt with and the inklings our under our influence," said the Red Queen.

"I confess that the lieutenant that I had spoken to was doubtful of our motives but she'll see soon enough that everything will pay off in the end once the final stage is complete," said the major.

"You better be sure. I will not tolerate failure if anything should happen and our plans are discovered. I will not come to your rescue if Octavio and his loyal troops find out about your treachery. Which by the way, I wanna now if the human has been captured or not. He plays a vital role in this as well," said the Red Queen.

"Why is the human so important? What role does he play in our coming new world? He should be extinct like the rest of his race. Why is he so valuable, I wanna know," exclaimed the major.

"Everything will be brought into the light. That's all you need to know you incompetent octopus! I grow tired of your questioning and lack of trust. You and everyone else will find out what the true promised land is and the only future we have to ensure that war will never happen again and that our race and the inklings can prosper in harmony without suffering and dependent on power every again," said the Red Queen.

After hearing those words. Major Octsana was beginning to believe that the Red Queen was delirious and unreal but knew how much power she held. It was too late to back out now and she had to follow through with her plans. Like other octolings, the major never believed in the promised land and saw it as nothing but a fable drawn up by octarians that couldn't handle being underground anymore. Something to be wishful for if not look forward to once they passed away. Callous as she became the promised land wasn't real until she started taking orders from the Red Queen that assured her that she could make it a reality but would require the help of her and the rest of the rebels and motivation as well as faith that the promised land would become a reality.

"Yes my queen, Operation Teal Dawn will commence and the promised land will be fulfilled. I'm sorry for doubting you my queen. It's just...for most of my military career I'd never figure an old fairy tale to become as real as the power crisis in the domes. I figured that the only chances for the octarians survival was for us to take the surface and conquer the inklings as Octavio believed," said Major Octsana apologetically.

"You're forgiven major but don't doubt me again because I promise you it will be your last. Octavio is naive to think taking the surface and enslaving the inklings will solve our problems. He has ruled over the octarians for far too long with no progress into improving our lives. His ego had outstretched his tentacles and he his bent on revenge, not considering the life of every single octarian. How I see it he has cost more lives than the inklings have. Now would you follow a leader like that?" asked the Red Queen.

The major pondered on the Red Queen's rhetoric. She was somewhat making sense, remembering when she was under is command when the octarian army was unified. "Octavio...has failed us...it's time for change," said the elite.

"And change will happen once Octavio falls. Be sure that Operation Teal Dawn succeeds and our dream...is fulfilled, soldier, it is your duty" said the Red Queen.

"Yes, my queen. As you request," replied the major.

"Good, now I have important matters to attend to, like interrupting those valley turncoats efforts. Do not fail me again major," said the Red Queen before hanging up.

The major was conflicted with turning against her leader Octavio and whether she should still take orders from the Red Queen even though she felt that Octavio had failed the octarians over the years he ruled a unified octarian empire. She left and placed her phone back in her pocket. She had no choice but to follow through and entrust in the mysterious Red Queen that had been pulling the strings and placed her in command and responsibility of Operation Teal Dawn that would bring about a new regime and new world as the Red Queen put it. Would this operation really bring about a great change among the octarians and would the promised land become a reality?

* * *

After beating the first test the two inklings headed back to the metro station. After a short celebratory victory and Cleo's admiration for Cassie's skills, they made their way to the subway train where outside the car. C. Q. Cumber congratulated the girls, especially Cassie. "Well done you two, I'm impressed that you completed the test so quickly and flawlessly. As I'm sure you know you can take your subway token to the back of the passenger car and retrieve a mem cake from the machine," said the sea pig conductor.

"What are these mem cakes for anyway?" asked Cassie.

"I can't say, all I know is you're rewarded with them every time you complete a test, company policy," answered C. Q. Cumber.

Cassie looked at Cleo who in turned, just shrugged her shoulders. They all hopped on board and Cassie spotted Cuttlefish fast asleep. She shook her head and Cleo sat down across from Cuttlefish. The inkling agent made her way to the back and inserted the token into the crane machine. The machine came on with music playing. The crane aligned itself and grabbed a mem cake shaped like a green squid. It dropped the cake and Cassie grabbed it. Examining it and sniffing it. It was odd as Cassie thought to herself.

Cuttlefish was snoring and soon woke up. "Wha...what! What did I miss?! Lass?" said Cuttlefish frantically as Cassie sat beside him with the mem cake in her hand. "That's cute...looks like your squid form," commented Cleo.

"yeah...huh...," she commented as she placed it into her pocket. "Something doesn't seem right," she thought herself as she looked at Cleo. "She's been too helpful. She's hiding something and I want answers," she thought again. Cassie then turned to Cuttlefish. "So how was your nap captain'?" asked Cassie with a smirk.

"Oh...uh, good I guess...but while you two left I saw something or I think I did... there was phone over there. I went to pull off my glasses and clean them to make sure my eyes weren't playing with me. When I went to put my specs back on the phone had just...vanished!" explained Cuttlefish as he pointed over to the other side of the station.

"A phone?" replied a bewildered Cassie.

"Pfff...old squid is just seeing things, he was taking a nap after all," scoffed Cleo.

"I know what I saw young lady! There was a phone over there! I grow tired of your disrespect you...you..." started an angered Cuttlefish as stood up and waved his cane before slamming it down.

"Both of you that's enough!" shouted Cassie as she got between them. She looked at Cuttlefish. "Captain, I'm not sure what you saw but we'll get the bottom of it, just sit back down," said Cassie. "And you..." she said as she turned to Cleo. "You need to stop! You might have had bad upbringings but that doesn't give the right to insult Cuttlefish. As far as I'm concerned, you didn't seem anxious to bring me and the captain down at first and know you're helping us for a company you've worked with that you have no knowldge about. I don't think you're being truthful with me and the captain. What are hiding?... What are you not telling us?" demanded Cassie.

"Look...I don't know what you're getting at but you two were the ones that chose to come down here and yes I was skeptical about you finding this place because I just didn't want you two getting involved with my affairs but no, you two just had to come here and jeopardize my mission and now I had no choice but to..." said Cleo just then biting her lip before saying any more.

"But to what?" asked Cassie.

"It's... nothing, let's just focus on the next station," said Cleo changing the subject and crossing her arms.

"What mission? If this is some sort of scheme you planned. don't think I won't turn you in to the authorities as I did with Camper. If you have something to hide then you better let us know and now," Cassie demanded.

"I... can't tell you. My employer demanded that I keep it confidential and besides what good what it do to explain things. We're stuck down here until the tests are completed," said Cleo.

"Why not explain things in the first place?! Did you know about these tests at the beginning? If so why not warn us!? Asked Cassie who was losing her cool with the inkling girl.

"Listen here you deceitful girl, I don't care what's confidential! You better start talking! What's going on!?" demanded Cuttlefish as he waved his cane.

"The captain's right, you better start talking! I'm starting to regret saving you from Camper, don't think I won't splat you if you put us in any kind of danger which is practically what you've already done!" exclaimed Cassie as she aimed her Hero shot at Cleo.

Cleo was now sweating and feeling cornered. Her guilt soon got the best of her and she had no choice but to spill the beans about the company and their current motives. "Okay! I did know about about the tests! I played dumb so I wouldn't arouse any suspicion. Seeing you handle Camper's gang and rescuing me made be think you would be a great candidate for the deepsea metro, I'm sorry!" exclaimed Cleo who felt deep remorse for what she had done.

"Why!?" demanded Cassie with her weapon still on Cleo.

"To tell you the truth...you weren't the original target...it was the human. That's why I infiltrated Camper's gang. Me and Megan were originally supposed to deliver the human to the deepsea metro but Camper's goons botched everything up and the human escaped," explained Cleo.

"What does Kamabo want with Blake?" asked Cassie.

"They wouldn't specify. Kamabo learned of his existence at the time he was transported to the Shellendorf Institute. I was just assigned to bring the human here and receive my payment," said Cleo.

"That pod did have the Kamabo logo on it but surely Blake has nothing to do with this," said Cassie.

"I'm not so sure. Kamabo was created by humans long ago to my knowledge, who knows what they want with him," said Cleo.

"And you were just goin' to hand the lad over! Not knowing what their intentions were with him! You're just as bad as those miscreants!" shouted Cuttlefish angrily.

"I agree, you're no better than Camper, besides him being a selfish jerk but none the less, Blake is my friend as well as the captain's. He's been through enough as it is and I won't let Kamabo take him. Who is this employer anyway?" asked Cassie sternly.

"All I know is he goes by Tartar," said Cleo.

"Tartar? What kind of name is Tartar?" asked Cuttlefish.

"I don't know, that's what he goes by. he just messages me on my squidphone. I've never met the guy," said Cleo in irritation.

"So this Tartar is interested in the bucko. Well who or whatever they may be are going to answer for whatever reason they want him and why we're down here. This company may pose a threat to Inkopolis and everyone else. I guess we got no choice but to keep going agent. Let's just hope we'll get more answers, unless somebody impedes our progress," said Cuttlefish as he glared at Cleo.

"Maybe so captain, I don't know what else may be ahead but we'll get through this," said Cassie. She then faced Cleo whose nervousness was starting resolve. "As for you, don't think you're off the hook. I'll be keeping an eye out and no more secrets so I suggest we cooperate if we're going to continue these tests but I warn you. if this is some kind of ploy, then I can promise you I won't hesitate to take you down. I might have felt bad for you at first but after all of the deception, you can't be trusted so you better help us or you'll end up sharing a cell with Camper when this is over," said Cassie.

Cleo gave a slow nod and sat back down. Cassie and Cuttlefish plopped down as they kept an eye on the inkling girl. The rest of the trip to Station B was quiet as the inklings sat across from each other, pondering what would lie ahead and why Kamabo wanted Blake.

Unknown to the group a figure was watching them from inside the next train car through the door window. They left after seeing the two inklings resolve their matters. The figure walked to one of the front cars and sat down on a bench. They pulled out a phone and began typing a message. "So...what brings you here octoling?" asked a voice from across the aisle of the car. The figure picked there head revealing a male octoling. His tentacles were short and purple with green eyes with your typical eye marks. He gave an indifferent look to the voice. "What's it to your concern? and the names Xavier so I have you know," replied the octoling.

"Oh no real reason. So how's the inklings doing. I'm impressed they beat the first station without any incident," said the voice.

"Yeah. I knew my girlfriend would lure them down here. She mentioned that the green headed one was a squidbeak agent and a skilled turf war player. I guess I shouldn't be surprised she completed the first test. I just hope she doesn't let her ego get to her. Theirs still plenty of more test and they only get harder," said the octoling.

"They seem like good people. I hate to see anything happen to them," said the voice with sympathy for the inklings.

"I'm sure they'll make it, what was it?" asked Xavier forgetting the voice's real name.

"It's Iso, Iso Padre to you and I'm frankly deplored by how your handling this. I never wanted to meet with that inkling girl but I had no choice in the matter. It was that or termination but you and that other one agreed to bring them down here and for what may I ask?" asked the giant Isopod in the suit.

'The promised land," replied Xavier.

"Promised land? What is this promised land?" asked Iso Padre.

"The promised land is an old fable drudged up by the octarians that got tired of living underground, a fairy tale or so I thought until..." started the octoling.

"Until what?" asked Iso Padre.

"Until my employer brought it up. How on earth does he know about the promised land. I've never mentioned it one time. I've been too busy down in those freakin' labs," said Xavier.

"Have you ever seen this promised land? Do you believe it really exist?" asked Iso Padre.

"It...has to. Why else would my employer say it is real. I left the octo outcasts to find a way up to the surface. I managed to get in Inkopolis, the inkling capital. I was afraid the inklings would be skeptical of me, being an octoling even though the peace treaty was in affect. That's when I met Cleo and we soon became a couple. She had a message from Kamabo for a job but agreed only if me and her sister got a cut too. Now I'm stuck down here, underground again (sigh). said Xavier as he leaned back in his seat.

"Seems you're not happy, young octoling," said Iso.

"I'm not. As soon as those two octolings finish the tests. Me and Cleo are ditching this place and going to the promised land. Screw the underground domes and screw Inkopolis. Me and Cleo will finally be in paradise from a world that'll never judge us again," said Xavier.

Iso Padre remained quiet seeing how naive the octoling was. The octoling was clearly leaving in a fantasy that the promised land was real and that him and Cleo would go there after Cassie and Cuttlefish completed the tests in the deepsea metro. Seems the Red Queen wants to create a promised land of her own while Kamabo already says it exists, Is there some kind of connection?

* * *

Maxie and Blake barely escaped with Tentacle Towers reduced to a pile of rubble and the sergeant-major killed in a fiery crash. The two of them headed out of the city and toward the outskirts until they found themselves in a wooded area floating above the dome. The two of them decided to camp out and spend the night, needing the rest from everything the two have them had been through.

Blake started a fire as Maxie sat to herself watching Blake as she thought about telling him how she felt towards him, especially after letting the octoling rebel take him, in order for her to spare the sergeant. The two fought beside one another and defeated the sergeant-major together before they escaped the collapsing tower and rebel reinforcements. Maxie felt a strong bond with the human for some time now and she felt this was the opportunity to let him know even though he was a human. She cleared her throat and directed her attention to Blake.

"Umm...Blake," said Maxie.

"Yeah," he replied.

"I uh...wanted to...see if you needed any help?" she asked, losing confidence in expressing her feelings towards him.

"No, I got it...thanks though," he said.

Maxie was getting frustrated with herself and the anxiety was killing her to see if Blake would accept her feelings or not. "C'mon Maxie, just let him know but I've...never felt like this toward anybody," she said to herself quietly. Blake stood up over the campfire and turned to Maxie. "Hey, I'm going to go hunt for some more firewood, if theirs any to find. I'll be back," he said.

"Wait, Blake...I'll...come with you," she said as stood up and accompanied Blake to go hunt for wood. The two walked through the woods looking around for anything to place on the campfire. Maxie was holding her arm and contemplating how to tell Blake. Blake was steadily looking but only managed to find a couple of limbs and was ready to head back, having no luck finding any wood. "I guess we can head back, you've been quiet this whole time. Is something on your mind?" asked Blake. Maxie jerked and stared at Blake, unable to hide her expression.

"I uh...just have a lot on my brain, that's all. With everything thing that's been happening, with you saving me and trying rescue that inkling girl back from Octavio. Why would you think I had an affection for you!? It's not as if I had a crush on you or something!" exclaimed Maxie before covering her mouth, realizing she had just told off on herself.

"I didn't! Wait a minute, crush? Maxie what are talking about?" he asked her as he was stunned by the octoling's outburst.

"I...I...I...gotta go!" exclaimed Maxie who too embarrassed to face Blake and ran into the woods out of sight.

"Maxie come back! What's this all about!" he shouted but she kept running until she reached the other side of the landmass. The dome monitors simulated a night sky with a full moon as Maxie stared up, thinking about what she had shouted at Blake and her inner conflict with the feelings she had for the human. Her mind was like a scale that was pivoting back in forth, deciding either to accept her feelings for him or put them aside and focus on stopping the rebels and remembering she was a soldier and an octoling. Who in the octarian society would accept a relationship between an octoling and a human. She gave a deep breath and sat against tree, staring at the projected night sky.

"(groan) Smooth move Maxie. Why did you have to go on and blurt that out! Am I losing my touch...I shouldn't even be feeling this way but he's saved me twice now, not counting him catching me on the roof. Get it together! You're a proud octoling soldier and now...(growl) I'm so stupid!" she shouted as she curled up with her head against her legs.

After a moment a voice got her attention. No, you're not Maxie," they said in a soft voice. Maxie recognized the voice and turned around to see the octoling entity she had been visited by. Still wearing a veiled white dress that she wore before. She wiped a tear from her eye and stared at the entity before standing up. Maxie turned away with her arms crossed not wanting the entity to express her concern for her. "Maxie... you just haven't come to accept your deep feelings for the human. Why do you constantly battle with your emotions?" the entity asked her.

"Why? Maybe because...Blake deserves better. I've...already failed my mission. I got Serena almost killed plus Blake almost got captured because he was trying to rescue me. Some soldier I turned out to be, so why are you here anyway? To tell how wrong I am or to lecture me some more about my feelings. You don't know anything about me! So why do you persist on bothering me if you're just gonna give me advice on things I have no control over!" shouted Maxie angrily as she started to tear up.

"Because Maxie...I'm your mother," said the entity feeling compassion for her daughter.

"Maxie's expression turned to sheer shock and her eyes widened with disbelief. She backed up from the entity not believing what the entity had said. "No, I...don't believe you! My mother is..." started Maxie who was still in shock.

"dead, yes...I died when you were eight years old. You probably barely remember me but it's true Maxie. You are my daughter and I've been coming to you trying to get you to understand because I love you," said the entity as she walked up to Maxie. She hugged Maxie in which the octoling froze.

"M...Mom...is it...really you?" asked Maxie as she started to cry.

"Who else would I be my dear daughter whose all grown up," said the entity still hugging Maxie as a tear ran down her face.

"Mom! It...really is you!" said Maxie as she balled up with tears streaming down her face. The two of them embraced for a good time before letting go. Maxie whimpered and wiped the tears from her eyes. "W...Why didn't you tell me before?" asked Maxie.

"I was hoping you would figure it out eventually but it has been so long and you were still young at the time," said her mother.

"Mom, what happened? All I heard was that you died in a training accident and what about dad?" she asked her mother.

"Let's not worry about that my daughter. I'm worried about you, you're here and I'm not. You have been fighting this inner conflict for a while now before you even met Blake. You need to let go and stop dwelling on your past mistakes. I come to you out of deep concern that you will overcome the challenges that lie ahead of you. You must accept that everything that's been happening is not your fault and if you truly love Blake then you should let him no before your opportunity slips away," said the entity.

"I... don't know mother. This is harder than it looks, I'm not sure if I'm ready to tell Blake that I (gulp) love him...what if he doesn't feel the same?" asked Maxie nervously.

"He already admires you as a friend, if not then you still have a friend and trusted ally," said the entity.

"But I don't wanna just be friends, maybe once this war is over maybe me and Blake could...go to the surface and start a family," said Maxie who came out of her military demeanor.

"And make me a grandmother...I would want nothing more but let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Right now you need to focus on your task at hand but you need to clear your mind of all these troubles or they will pull you down. You won't accomplish anything if you continue pushing yourself, thinking you can just drag these obstacles behind you. Heed my words Maxie. I want you to continue your dream and make me proud. Everything will come to pass eventually and what you seek to find will come to you. Please have faith," said the entity as she gave Maxie another hug.

Maxie started to tear up again as she grabbed her mother. "Thank you, mother. I just wish...you were here, beside me," said Maxie as she wiped her tears.

"I'll always be with you my daughter...forever and always," said the entity. Her mother looked up to the sky and backed away from her daughter. "I...have to go, Maxie, remember what I told you," said the entity.

"Mother! Wait! Were are you going!?" shouted Maxie as she reached her arm out to the entity.

"Goodbye my daughter, take my words at heart," said the entity as she got consumed in bright light and vanished before the octoling that was her daughter. Maxie dropped to her knees and cried over seeing her mother disappear. She was curled up in tears for nearly a minute before getting up. She had her mother's words running through her mind and came to peace knowing her mother wasn't truly gone but living inside her. She wiped the tears from her eyes and regained her composure before heading back to the camp. It was there where Blake was stuck in though over Maxie's words and behavior until the octoling appeared from out of the woods. Blake spotted her and a smile of relief appeared on his face.

"Maxie! There you are! Are...you ok?" he asked seeing she had been crying.

"I'm ok...I just wanted some time to myself is all," said Maxie.

"(sigh) Did you wanna talk about it?" asked Blake. Maxie looked at him and gave a slight smile. "I do," she replied. The two of them got to talking. Maxie had expressed her feelings to Blake after what the two of them had been through. Blake was unsure what to make of the revelations and thought about Callie and Marie. How they had strong feelings for him as well. Blake's head downed and his face darkened. He didn't know what to do. He liked Callie and Marie and now Maxie had revealed her admiration for him as well. He saw how troubled she was and how she reacted before running off into the woods. Blake didn't want to disappoint the octoling that expressed her feelings for him. "I know you lost your family Blake but...I was thinking we could have our own, after Octavio and the rebels are defeated," said Maxie. She was beginning to sound like Callie and Blake was having his own inner conflict with this. He turned and looked at Maxie who was deeply anxious to see how Blake felt about her feelings for him.

"Maxie...I (deep breath) We've only been close companions for maybe a day's worth of time. Why all of a sudden? I mean the squid sisters, well... let's just say you're not the only one and I haven't been around them much either. What do you guys see in me?" asked Blake.

Maxie paused for a moment to think of a way to answer Blake but she was at a slight loss of words. "I... don't know, I guess it's just... your personality. Oceanics don't have the, how do I put this... it's your selflessness, you're caring for others. You carry something we lack and I guess that's what draws me to you. Inkling society has its own paradigm and so does the octarians. It's as if we're driven on instinct of what our societies want us to be, it's hard to explain. I don't know how human society was like but it must've been better than ours," said Maxie.

Blake paused for a moment. He could only recall anything that had to do with human society, was vaguely remembering the resource wars and his family escape aboard the Ark Polaris before he was frozen in the cryopod. "No it wasn't," mumbled Blake.

"What was that?" asked Maxie not hearing him.

"I...don't wanna talk about it. any of this. It's too much to take in," said Blake.

"But Blake I...I didn't mean to put this on your shoulder," said Maxie who was starting to fret.

"Maxie it's alright, I'm just not ready to...settle down. At least not before I find out what happened to my family. I feel I'm still out of place in this world at times. I told Callie the same thing and I... don't wanna discuss it anymore. How about we wait until the morning. It's getting late," said Blake.

"Oh...ok then, you'll think on it won't you?" asked Maxie. Blake didn't respond and laid down beside the campfire turning away from the octoling. She dwelled on his behavior and sat down against a log. "(deep breath) Maybe I should've said anything... who am I kiddin'. That inkling loves him and I'm out of his league. He's been through a lot and I shouldn't have pushed the issue. Maybe things will change in the morning after a good night's sleep and the start of a new day," said Maxie. She laid down beside the log until she fell asleep while Blake was deep in a dream and having another vision like he always did when he fell asleep.

The fire eventually burned out and the two were fast asleep after the rough day that they had prior. Would Blake really accept Maxie's affection toward him or would he object to her feelings and focus on the mission. He knew Callie loved him and now so did Maxie. Blake's mind felt like a rope in tug-o-war but feared, would it break from all the stress put on it. Blake felt his mind fracturing with evertthing that had been happening. Losing his family yo fighting the octo rebels. How much longer until Blake would snap and lose himself in a world he didn't belong in?

* * *

Izzy woke up from her rest and sat up, giving a stretch. She hopped out of bed with her soreness just about gone and feeling better than she did when she first woke up in the shack. "I feel a whole better now, I guess all that rest is all I needed. Indigo and Luna said something about coming out to meet everyone," she said but then she spotted some food on the table and some water. She walked over and chowed down on the food that was brought to her, as starving as she was. "I shouldn't have been so hard on those two but I never wouldn't have thought about being rescued by octolings. They seem nice unlike the rebels I've been having to fight," she said as she finished her meal. She guzzled down her water and grabbed her hero shot before heading out the door.

Izzy walked out and saw primitive and crudely built dwellings and shacks scattered about forming into what looked like a hobo camp. A pair of octoling hatchlings could be seen chasing one another and one group of hatchlings bouncing on the belly of an octobomber without its gear, laying on the ground fast asleep. She saw an octoling put out clothes on a line to dry and one tilling a garden near their house.

"Woah, I never would have believed a place like this existed. Everyone seems so...normal and peaceful," said Izzy.

"So your finally up squid!" shouted a voice in front her. She looked down the hill and saw Indigo looking at her beside Luna.

"Indigo? So this is the gypsy village you were talking about. All the octarians here seem so calm and well not wanting to splat me," said Izzy as she walked down.

"Yeah well, you're the first inkling to ever come here. C'mon lets head over to the village square so everyone an meet you at the same time," said Indigo as she waved Izzy to follow her. Once they reached the opening, the octarians and octolings gathered around staring at Izzy and whispering to one another. "Everyone! I would like you to meet Izzy, the first inkling to step foot in the village. I know she's a squidbeak agent but me and Luna rescued her after discovering she had took on a fleet of rebel octozeppelns and stopped the war between the two races," shouted Indigo.

Izzy awkwardly waved and gave a fake grin to the crowd. Some waved and smiled back but some were a bit leery to one another. "She's here to put an end to Octavio's rule and the rebels plans to start another turf war," explained Luna.

Some of the villagers cheered, while others just looked, still unsure about seeing an inkling in the village. Some of the octarians rushed in to greet Izzy as they shook her hand and asked her numerous questions about her heroics and life on the surface. Izzy was having a hard time keeping up with the pleasantries and questions as a big octobomber without its gear tromped behind the inkling girl and gave her a hug as she got absorbed in its flabby belly. She pushed herself out and gasped for breath before turning around to face the fat octarian that suffocated her.

The fat octarian gargled and smiled at Izzy. "Wow...you're a big fella ain't ya. I...like you too," she said awkwardly.

The villagers were eager to learn more about Izzy until Indigo stepped in and pushed the octarians away. "OK, everyone give the squid some space. I'm sure she's gotta get back on her mission to stop Octavio and the rebels.

The villagers walked away in disappointment as a couple of hatchlings waved goodbye to Izzy. "Wow, so I guess you'll be the talk of the town. You're practically famous here now," said Luna.

"That must be what Pearl and Marina have to deal with everyday from their fans. I just hope their holding out from the city not having any power," said Izzy.

"Wait, you know Marina?" asked Indigo.

"Yeah, she's my friend. She cheers me up whenever I'm feeling down and tells me to never give up. She and Cassie are the ones that gave the encouragement to join the turf war matches and become a squidbeak agent," explained Izzy.

"Well, small world. It's been some time since I've even got a hold of her. I hope she's doing ok too but I believe you got a great zapfish to rescue. Best of luck squid, I mean...Izzy," said Indigo.

"I wish you two would come with me and stop those rebels. I maybe a squidbeak agent but I'm all by myself. Blake is somewhere down here trying to rescue Callie after she got kidnapped by Octavio. He's a squidbeak agent like me and he gave me the confidence to fight those jerks after we split up," said Izzy.

"Huh? Blake...isn't he the human. He's down here!" exclaimed Indigo as she shook her head and her eyes widened.

"A human a squidbeak agent? I would've never imagined," said Luna.

"Yeah he's down here, somewhere. I haven't had a chance to get in touch with him. What's the matter?" asked Izzy concerned with indigo's reaction.

"You don't understand Izzy, Blake shouldn't be down here. You've just brought him closer to the rebels and their plans. They needed him for some operation that we're still not sure about but I know it can't be good for anyone especially the inklings," said Indigo.

"What do you mean operation, what do they need Blake for?" she asked her.

"I've been tracking the conversations and movements of the rebels whenever I leave the village. It's how me and Luna found you. Anyway I'm not to sure only that this Red Queen required the human for the operation to complete it as well as getting inside the vault. Maybe he's got something to do with that place," said Indigo.

"Vault? What's that?" sked Izzy.

"It's some place built by humans long ago before they went extinct. It's a pair of giant metal doors that are locked from the inside and for years the octarians have tried getting inside but all attempts were failures. We don't know what's in it but if Octavio wanted to get inside before and now the Red Queen wants in it, it must be vital to their operation and could spell doom for the surface and everyone down here. It could be weapons or who knows but the Red Queen is more than eager to break inside it, that's why we named it the vault" said Indigo.

"So the vault was built by humans. You think that's why they need Blake?" asked Izzy.

"I'm not sure if I can answer that question. Let's just hope that the rebels haven't taken that human yet which is why I've decided to go ahead and come with you," said Indigo.

"You are! This is awesome, we can stop Octavio and those jerks together!" cheered Izzy as she hugged Indigo.

"Ok squid, just easy on all the hugging. I'm not as callous as those rebels but I like my personal space," said Indigo as she pulled Izzy off her.

"Oh sorry," said Izzy.

"Not without me you're not!" protested Luna.

"Luna I would prefer you to stay here! Somebody's gotta watch the village plus I would hate for something to happen to you," said Indigo.

"You're gonna need a sniper to make sure our way is clear. Besides the village will be fine. We've gone out together before, why stay back now, especially if it means stopping the rebels in which, we're not supposed to be doing anyway. Everyone else is not gonna want to want to hear you've gone off to fight the rebels knowing that we're supposed to be neutral and could jeopardize our hidden existence," said Luna as she crossed her arms.

"Ok! You win Luna. Let's just get going before the rebels start planning for another attack on Inkopolis," said Indigo. "Once we leave here we'll head toward the old city. It's being occupied by the rebels so we'll go around it," continued Indigo.

"Is this the way to the rebel's base?" asked Izzy.

"Yeah, it's the only way. On the other side of the city dome is a tunnel that leads to the Cephalon HQ. Their stronghold. We'll be stealthy once we reach the outsdie of their base and sneak in," said Indigo.

"How do you expect us to sneak in. That place I'm sure is well guarded and fortified to not mention those fatsos are flying around watching for any intruders," pointed out Luna.

"I think of something once we get there, for now let's go before Octavio gets too far ahead," said Indigo.

"I hope we stop those jerks and get the great zapfish back," said Izzy.

"Follow my lead Izzy and we'll get through this... I hope," said Indigo with uncertianty.

The three of them left for the city in hopes to stop Octavio and his plans before they made another attempt to attack the inkling capital. Can Izzy trust her new octoling allies and get the great zapfish back before the rebels launch their final attack on the city? Or will this be the start of the second great turf war between the two races?


	69. Important Message

**Important Message**

A message to those who are reading the story and are getting aggravated with it. For those who don't have an account setup with this site and that I cannot message to. Listen I've went back and I'm reworking the future chapters for this Arc so please be patient. The story is complex and seems like their are multiple plots and it feels like its dragging out. These alternate plots are for build up for the next Arc. I'm compiling the narrative together so the won't be so many chapters. I'm ready to get this Arc over with too but I don't wanna just start the next Arc without some kind of leads and just drop from one narrative to another. I want build up and suspense for the next chapters so my objective is 30 chapters for this arc no more than 32. I'm doing my damnest and if you don't like it then quit reading this story and move on!


	70. Arc 3 Chapter 21

**Arc 3 Chapter 21**

At the Inkopolis Defense Force HQ. Flash and Ben had just recently stepped out of Captain Finn's office after their "altercation". Flash walked away from Ben, not daring to get in another fight with his former friend. The young inkling stepped into the courtyard and plopped down on a bench. "Stupid Ben! Who does that squid think he is telling me what to do and now this is going to go on my record. (sigh) Still, maybe this was a dumb idea but that doesn't give Ben the right to tell me what I should and shouldn't do. We've been friends since school, I never thought he and Jazz felt that way. I guess I have been a jerk and now I'm stuck in the IDF for who knows how long," said Flash as he laid his head on his arms.

"So did she let you off with a warning this time?" asked Kirk who was standing on the other side of the bench.

"Huh...oh, hey Kirk. (sigh) yeah...I don't get it. Ben said I was dumb to enlist in the IDF but he goes and joins himself. To prove to me what a bad decision I made. I mean I joined to prove Izzy that I can be the best squid for her. He seems pretty hypocritical," said Flash.

"I think he's just looking out for you dude. What a friend is supposed to do and all you wanna do is lash out at him. I can't blame him for acting this way," said Kirk as he crossed his arms.

"Maybe so, but I made this choice and he made his. I'm heading back to the barracks. I'll see you later dude," said Flash as he got up and walked away from Kirk.

Kirk shook his head as Flash walked away. "That guys got issues to work on. Best to just leave him alone for a while so he can think (sigh)," said Kirk as he sat down.

Once Flash got to the barracks and laid in his bed and stared at the ceiling. He though about the good ole days of turfing with his friends. He remembered Izzy joining his team and the last match they had together before he got upset about losing the match to his ex-girlfriend Suki. He drifted asleep but on the other side of the base Ben was talking with his father Miles. A strategist in the IDF.

"I know you disapprove of me joining the IDF dad but Flash... is my friend, I couldn't stand seeing him enlist. he's let this Izzy chick stand in the way of our friendship and now he's pulled this and I'm not supposed to be upset about it," said Ben.

"Son, you know as well as I do you can't just dictate to your friends like this. he'll just have to find out for himself. He's is own squid and he has the right to make whatever decisions he wants. Your only making things worse and empowering him to prove you wrong," said Miles.

"That's beside the point. If we go to war with the octarians then he's just gonna get killed. Me and Jazz have always had to watch over him during the hard turf war matches. Just imagine how it will be if he got out their in a real turf war without any spawn pads. I know he thinks he's a big squid but needs to get over himself and Izzy. This is the army and things are different," said Ben.

"You're right Ben but you shouldn't be so hard on him. It just means you care for your friend. You're watching out for him and I think he needs you more than ever. As of right now, I'm going to see if I can get you two out of the IDF but I'm still disappointed in you for lying about your age. You should have known better and we'll talk about your punishment later," said Miles.

"I deserve it dad, anything to get me and Flash out of the IDF so we can go back to our normal lives. I don't wanna go and fight against the octarians. I just want everything to go back to the way things were," said Ben as he started to hug his father. Miles patted his son's head and looked at him.

"I'll do what I can but I can't be certain. This will take time not to mention a lot of paperwork. Ey, Yi, Yi... the things I have to deal with. Go find Flash and remember what I told you," said Miles.

"I got it dad," said Ben as he ran out to find Flash.

Meanwhile, Jazz was sitting at the bus stop waiting for her ride back home. She was distraught about Flash joining the IDF and now Ben has run off to enlist so he could talk some sense into his friend. "Those two idiots, I can't believe they would just do this. With everything that's going on, I'm not sure if I'll ever see them again," said Jazz as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

"Idiots is right. What's flash gone and done now?" asked a female voice beside the bus stop. Jazz opened her eye and spotted Suki leaning up against the booth.

"Suki, what are you doing here?" asked Jazz surprised to see the squid girl.

"Oh just walking a guess and then I see you by yourself. Where's those two half-wits you hang around with anyway or do I dare ask?" replied Suki.

"They...gone off to join the IDF. Well Flash did at first but me and Ben tried to talk him out of it. He didn't want to listen so he took off and Ben soon done the same thing so he could talk him out of it," explained Jazz.

"Why one earth would he wanna enlist in the army? He could barely last in a match against experienced turfers. So how the shell is he going to go up against the octarians or the training for that matter. That's Flash for ya," said Suki bluntly.

"You know, you have a lot of nerve to talk. This all started because of that match with you and your team. Flash got so worked up and oversighted that he lost his composure and snapped at Izzy for losing the match to you. That girl left and now he's swooning over her. he felt so bad at getting angry with her and now he's trying to win her over so he can impress her. All because of that stupid match and how he treated her if we can ever find her," said Jazz crossing her arms with a disapproved look at Suki.

"What! Don't put this on me! Flash is the one that ran off that squid chick. She probably couldn't handle the match and left back for Calamari County or something. All and all, still Flash shouldn't have been so hard on the noob, it was her first turf war match. Listen no hard feelings to you or those other two inkheads you hang with but I saw you over here by yourself. You looked upset so I came over to see if you wanted to hang out. You know like a girl's night out or something," said Suki.

"I don't know. I mean you haven't been exactly friendly with us and with you being Flash's ex I..." started Jazz.

"Suit yourself. I just offered and what does that got to do with anything? So we're rivals and all. That doesn't mean we shouldn't hang out. C'mon you could use some company," said Suki.

"Oh ok, I guess so. I just hope Ben and Flash can get themselves out of that mess before we decide to go to war with the octarians," said jazz as she got up.

"You worry too much. Flash has been in worse dilemmas. I'm sure he'll slither his way out of this one. I'm not sure how can put up with him and that ego of his. I swear I don't think he'll ever grow up. Guess that's why we broke up," said Suki.

"I remember him taking it pretty hard but he finally got over it, well...kinda," said Jazz.

"Don't get me wrong. Flash could be a great guy if he didn't have his head up his butt. All that ranting over his turf war victories or talking about the freshest gear in town or about his favorite music idols off the hook, especially Marina. I think he has a crush on her... fanboys," said Suki as she just swung her arms.

"I didn't know Flash liked off the hook. That is kinda funny though, I would have never thought and a crush on Marina... not to add insult to injury but I think he's out of her league not mention putting up with pearl and her ego. I'm sure she wouldn't want to deal with the both of them," said Jazz as she chuckled.

"Yeah, I an see it now. Him and Pearl getting into a debate over what's fresh and what's not. Wouldn't that be a show on Inkopolis News. I think Marina would get drained from all the drama if not quit," said Suki as she started chuckling herself. "Hey, I don't understand why we could've hung out before. you seem pretty cool but you seemed to stay quiet all the time, especially around those two. You must have nerves of steel to have to put with them," said Suki.

"They're not so bad when their not squabbling over turf war strategy before the match but I like those two," said Jazz.

"Why?" asked a bewildered Suki.

"They may inkheads as you put it but we're still friends thick and thin and I wouldn't trade them for anyone else. Let's just say they've been by my side since school and I owe them a lot. They kept the bullies away and gave me the confidence to be more outspoken and not so shy. Before I met them I was probably the most timid squid in school. I was afraid to talk or hang around anybody until I met Flash and Ben. Those two have been friends before I ever met them so after school we'd hang out at the plaza and soon decided to start our own team for the turf war games," said Jazz.

"I guess it's hard to ditch friends like that no matter how dumb they can act. You guys seem like your as thick as ink to one another. I wouldn't know because I've never really had any friends. I have my teammates but we really never hang around," said Suki rubbing her arm.

"Why not? I mean me, Flash, and Ben hang around each other all the time when we're not involved in the turf matches," said Jazz.

"Yeah but...they have their own things to deal with. They never offer to hang out at the square or nothing so...(sigh) I'm always to myself, maybe that's why I'm so...mean to you guys, I'm jealous that you're all friends and I don't have any," said Suki.

"Well...you have one now...friend," said jazz as Suki picked her head up and gave Jazz a smile.

"Thanks, soooo,,, what did you wanna do?" asked Suki rubbing the back of her head.

"You're asking me but you're the one that wanted me to hang out with you," said Jazz.

"I already told you, I've never done something like this before. I'm always by myself so I..." stared Suki.

"How about we just hang out at Arowana Mall for a bit. Do some window shopping and get a bite to eat. That would be a good start," said Jazz.

"OK, Arowana mall it is then," said Suki. Then the two of them spotted the bus coming. It stopped as the jellyfish driver opened the door. Jazz waved Suki to go on first as she gave a smile. The two sat down next to each other and talked about their personal lives on the way to the mall. The two of them soon grew to become friends.

Back at the IDF HQ. Commander Armie was sitting at his desk rubbing the sides of his head. "We can't afford to wait for the octarians to attack us. Bureaucracy is what it is! The inkling council better do something and do something now! Especially the chancellor. (groan) I need a drink," said Armie.

A knocking was heard at the door of his office. "Come in," said Armie in frustration. It was Captain Finn who walked in and saw that the commander was at his wits end.

"Commander you feeling alright?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, just have a seat," said Armie waving his hand to the chair.

"You don't sound like it. What's this all about?" asked the captain as she sat down.

"The situation with the octarians. While we sit here and do nothing the octarians are plotting," said Armie in agitation as he pounded his desk, "The inkling council better think about a show of force. You better believe it won't stop at the zapfish but an invasion of our territory. Do they really think a naval blockade is going to intimidate the octarian government. Please... we might as well put white flags and peace signs on those ships. This treaty was a ploy and stab in the back! And the inkling government is afraid to admit it. Anything to keep their seats in the council and for the chancellor from looking like an ass. Politicians!" exclaimed an aggravated Armie.

"Sir, if I may. Just keep pressuring the council for us to send a landing force to the octarian territory if you feel the blockade is not enough. I'm sure the council is doing their best and is still looking to diplomacy before a declaration of war can be enacted. To be honest with you commander, I'm not sure we have the capabilities to take on the octarians. They could have built up their forces if they did plan this from the beginning and using the treaty as a ploy to catch us off guard. Only time will tell what their next move will be and if we are incapable to fight their military forces then we have to think of the alternatives," suggested the captain.

"Alternatives...like what? Just hand the city over to them! I've sworn to protect Inkopolis from any and all threats especially from the octarians. Let's face it, they've been at war with us since the great turf war. Our government is naïve to think they would just let go of their differences. It was us that forced them underground after we won the war. This so called truce was nothing but a façade from the get go. "AND THEY'RE TO PRIDEFUL TO ADMIT IT!" (growl). Shouted Commander Armie before taking a trophy and throwing it against the door window, busting it.

"Commander Armie! Calm down! As your subordinate I would advice you to keep a cooler head. We will defend Inkopolis from the octarians if they do plan an invasion to the last squid. Irritational thinking and getting angry over this will not help our efforts so I suggest that we wait and hope that the council knows what they're doing," said the captain.

"(deep breath) I guess we got no choice. My tentacles are tied and all we can do is dig our barrels in the sand," said Amie as he turned toward the window. "So what was the real reason you came to my office before all my ranting?" asked Armie.

"Oh yes... something needs to be brought to your attention. Our intelligence department has been tracking any kind of abnormalities on the squidweb network for the past few weeks, though right now the network is down. Something flew under their radar until they done some digging and found messages being sent from one source out of Octo Valley to here in the city. The sources aren't fixed and we can't figure out who or what are sending these messages only that we've deciphered these messages," informed the captain.

"What messages! What was deciphered?" asked Armie anxiously.

"Our men could only pull key words and phrases out of the messages before they were blocked. They're using some kind of security firewall that we can't bypass. The users knew what they were doing to keep their network secure, no doubt they're probably octolings. possibly spies. Octo-rebels was popped up many times and Octo Canyon. Nothing too alarming but one word stuck out over everything they could decipher. Human subject," iterated the captain.

"Human subject? What's that supposed to mean?" asked a baffled Armie.

"Humans were a race of beings that inhabited our world long ago. They've been extinct and all that's left of them are fossils dug up at excavation sites like the one at the Shellendorf Institute. It's where we got our technology from and the octarians have been known to be obsessed with human technology and culture. I don't know why human subject would turn up unless... no, that would be impossible. They're long extinct," said the captain who was still in thought.

"You can't be seriously thinking a human could still be around and if so I suggest you get that thinking out of your head. We have bigger fish to fry than to debate whether one is still alive somewhere and why would the octarians even bring this up. Let's stay focused on figuring out what the octarian government is planning and off this imaginary human floating around. What else has popped up?" asked Armie.

"Well only that the users go by DJ_Hyperfresh and the other one Indigo_Agent, who ever they are. Other than that, nothing else," said the captain.

"That doesn't tell me anything captain Finn. So we're back to square one in other words," said a frustrated Armie as he plopped down on his desk and rubbed his head. "if their are spies among us then they need to be rooted out and prosecuted," commented Armie.

"Yes sir, I'll report back to Miles and see what our intelligence department can do. Maybe they can find some more clues and hopefully find out who these two users are but at least one of them is somewhere in Inkopolis but their direct location has been blocked. We'll find out who they are and once we do and they will be interned and interrogated. If they are spies for the octarian government then this will be brought to the council and hopefully something can be done," reassured the captain.

"Hopefully before it's not too late and the city of Inkopolis will be under the banner of the octarians. Do what you must captain. You're dismissed," said the commander.

The captain nodded and gave the commander a concerned look as he laid his head down on his desk before shutting the door. She gave a deep sigh and made her way back to Miles to find out if they dug up anymore information.

* * *

A group of figures were pushing their way through a lush muggy jungle eager to reach the source of the smoke that they spotted on the crashed Shuttle from the distance. Amy tripped on an exposed tree root and hurt her knee as she yelped. "Amy! You ok?" asked her boyfriend Brandon. He helped her up as she jeered from the pain in her knee. "Yeah, I'm...fine...thanks Brandon," said Amy.

"Be careful you guys and watch your step. We don't know exactly where the smoke is coming from and who started it. Irons and his men could still have sent someone to look for us and might have established a camp somewhere in this jungle. We don't need to get caught, especially in the shape we're in," said James.

"Dad (cough) what's going to happen to us?" asked Amy as Brandon was helping her on his shoulder.

"I don't know. The serum is...unpredictable. Anything could happen but I'm not losing hope that we still have a chance to get help. It's been some time since we were first frozen in the cryopods onboard that shuttle. Somebody's gotta still be alive out here," said James.

"We don't know where here is Mr. C? I just hope you're right," said Brandon.

"I hope so too Brandon, let's be cautious I'm starting to see it open up ahead. We're about to find out," said James.

The group of humans pushed aside the brush as they looked down and saw what looked like a settlement consisting of huts made of leaves, bamboo stalks and whatever else was that could be utilized in the jungle. They spotted a small bonfire in the center of the village but where were the locals they thought to themselves. "What is this place, looks like something off of national geographic but I don't see anyone down there," said Brandon still holding Amy.

"There's gotta be somebody down there. That fire wouldn't have started itself," said James.

"I smell food and I'm starving," said Brandon. "What do we do?" he asked.

"Now's not the time to think about your stomach Brandon. This is very peculiar," said James. The family kept looking down at the primitive little village until Brandon spotted someone walking out of one of the huts. "Look! There's someone!" shouted Brandon. They looked and spotted the figure who looked human but was wearing a skirt made out of leaves. It appeared to be a young boy but he was also wearing some kind of wig. It was blue and tied into a ponytail. The family were a little baffled seeing what looked like a child by itself. Where was his parents? surely they were around they thought.

"Is that a boy?" asked Amy.

"It looks like it but why are they dressed like that?" asked James's wife.

"What survivors were around possibly reverted back to their primal instincts being civilization was wiped out," said James. James pondered on what to do next, whether or not to head down there and get help. The locals could be hostile and didn't know what they were capable of. They were unprepared to deal with any hostilities they may pose and their condition was worsening. James was at an impasse and had to make a decision. "(deep breath) I guess I have no choice. I'll investigate but if anything were to happen. You guys make a run for it," said James.

"What! No! We won't leave you dad!" shouted Amy.

"James I won't leave you behind to get killed!" protested his wife.

"Yeah Mr. C! If you go down we go down together!" exclaimed Brandon.

"I appreciate your valor but...I don't anything to happen to you. Do you understand me? If anything happens get back to the shuttle as quickly as possible so you don't get spotted!" demanded James. He turned his sight back on the village not seeing the boy anymore. "Well, here I go, remember what I told you," said James as he made his way down.

"Good luck Mr. C!" shouted Brandon.

"Daddy please be ok," said Amy.

"Be careful hon," said his wife.

James nodded at them before he made it down toward the village. he hid in some bushes and peered out, seeing no one around. He decided to slowly step out and crept around one of the huts. He could make out talking but it was inaudible and coming from inside the hut. He spotted a window and hugged the war slowly peeking inside without getting any attention by the occupants. He was shocked at what he saw, three human-like figures but something wasn't right. like the boy they first saw, they were wearing some kind of colorful hats or wigs over their heads. Their heads were abnormally large as well as their eyes with what looked like it had a mask around them. Their ears were large and pointed and wore leaves for clothes. "What...are they," James thought to himself.

He turned around from the window shocked by what he saw. "They...can't be human, can they? " he said quietly. They moved around the hut and James ducked under the window to the other end but not paying attention as he reached the corner of the hut. A small child was staring at him but it wasn't the little boy from before. This appeared to be a little girl by the style of the "wig" and the fact that her chest was covered.

James turned and froze at the sight of the child. She stared at him with her large eyes. her facial expression was that of fear and curiosity. James kneeled down so we wouldn't look so intimidating and waved his hands to signal the child not to draw attention. he put his finger in front of his lips let her know to be quiet. Her "hair" was orange with two drooping locks that went down to her waist. She was about the height of James's shoulders and James noticed her teeth but they weren't teeth. It was like a beak with three pointed fangs. Two on top and one on the bottom center.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," said James but the child didn't understand, instead she gave a loud gargled shriek and ran around the hut.

"Oh no, that's not what I wanted to happen. I gotta get out of here!" exclaimed James. He rushed out from behind the hut only to be spotted by more of those creatures that were speaking some kind of gargled language that James couldn't understand. They seemed angry at the fact that James was in their village and pointed at him.

"Oh no, dad! We gotta do something!" shouted Amy fearing what the locals were about to do to her father. Amy got off Brandon's shoulder to rush down and save her dad but she stumbled from her wound and rolled down the hill getting bruised up from the rocks and foliage. "Amy!" shouted her mother and Brandon.

Amy finally landed on the ground but she couldn't sit up. She was battered from the fall and badly injured. A group of the "villagers" spotted her and rushed over to subdue her but Brandon saw them and rushed down toward Amy. "Amy! Don't worry! I'm coming!" Shouted Brandon. He jumped in front of the creatures before they could grab her. "Back off!" he shouted as they faltered by Brandon's height and aggressive stance.

James was distracted by this and a group of the creatures pounced on him and pinned him to the ground. They were a lot stronger than they appeared as James couldn't lay up. "Mr. C!" shouted Brandon seeing him getting pinned. More creatures appeared and surrounded Brandon and Amy. One of them rushed Brandon and grabbed one of his arms. It was knocked away and another grabbed the other arm, then another grabbed the first arm. They pulled Brandon down as one creature jumped on his back and clubbed him in the back of the head knocking him out momentarily.

"Brandon! No!" cried Amy seeing Brandon subdued. Two other creatures grabbed Amy and dragged her away as her mother watched in horror. She covered her mouth and felt helpless to what was happening. She heard rustling behind from out of the jungle and saw a creature holding a spear at her. She was guided down the hill to join the rest of the humans and soon subdued like her husband, daughter, and Brandon.

The imagery turns blurry and fades to black with the echoing of "Help us!" shouted by Amy. Heavy breathing follows with Blake jolting awake from the dream he had. "NOOOO!" shouted Blake as he pounded his fist against the ground beside him. Deep in anguish seeing the inhabitants take his family away.

"Huh...Blake! What is it?!" shouted Maxie as Blake's shouting woke her up. She quickly got up and raced by his side. "Is everything ok?" she asked him with deep concern as she kneeled down and grabbed his shoulder.

"No! It isn't! It's...my family! I seen them..." started Blake angrily as he covered his face to hide his tears.

"You saw them! Where?!" asked Maxie.

"It doesn't matter...I...couldn't be there to help them. I should just face it...they're gone and to think I believed I could find them. I was stupid to believe they were still around!" said Blake in both distress and anger. He couldn't face knowing that he would never see his family again.

"Blake you're not making any sense! What do you mean you couldn't be there to help them? What happened?" asked Maxie.

"They...were captured," said Blake as tears started to form in his eyes.

"Captured? By who? What are you not telling me?" asked Blake.

"I (sniffle) had a dream. I saw them walking through a jungle. They woke up out of these cryopods like I did and they spotted a village to see if they could get help but..." said Blake trying to hold back his tears.

"But...what?" asked Maxie seeing how much in distress Blake was in.

"It was...inklings...inklings took my family. They were caught by them. My family was trying to look for help and... (sobbing)" said Blake before bursting into tears.

"Blake, I... don't know what to say but... you have to get over this, you can't be sure if they're gone or not. It was just a dream! That doesn't mean anything, now you need focus on stopping Octavio and another great turf war between my people and the inklings. That's your duty right now. I'll help you find your family after the rebels are dealt with, I promise," said Maxie.

"You know that's all I've been hearing! Ever since cuttlefish found me I've had to put aside trying to locate my folks and sister. I had to fight alongside the inklings during the great turf war. I was frozen again. Captured by Camper to be turned over to the rebels and now I'm having stop Octavio yet again to avert another war! I'm sick of it! I'm tired of getting pulled every which way but loose! I WISH I WAS NEVER FOUND IN THAT FUCKING POD! I WISH I WAS DEAD LIKE THE REST OF MY RACE AND THEN I WOULDN"T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT FINDING MY FAMILY!" raved Blake as his patience ran out. Maxie backed up seeing how enraged Blake was. He bared his teeth as tears ran down his face. He shot a glare at Maxie who interned had a look of sadness on her face.

"WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANNA ASK ME! You mentioned about starting a family of our own, what do want me to do? Hunt for a place for us to stay after Octavio is apprehended? Something else I have to do besides finding my family which I'll never see again! Sure why not!" ranted Blake.

Maxie downed her head and started shaking. She wiped a tear from her eye as Blake's anger was starting to resolve. "Maxie...I'm sorry, I'm just...I didn't mean that..." said Blake apologetically.

"No...you meant every word of it. I didn't realize you had that much bottled up in your mind. I'm sorry I ever asked you to do anything and I'm sorry I've put you through so much," said Maxie as she was hiding her tears.

"Maxie that's not true! I've just been overwhelmed and stressed out, I enjoy your company and it's just..." said Blake only to be interrupted.

"We have a lot in common Blake and you don't see that! I get it! You...don't love me, you don't like being here. You know...your not the only whose lost their family. I never knew what happened to mine either, at least you can remember yours," said Maxie angrily as she wiped her eyes.

"Maxie...I..." started Blake in deep remorse as he downed his head not looking at the octoling that was angry with him.

"You don't have to say anything else...I think we should go our separate ways. I'll leave you to finish the mission. I'll call for a pickup and head back to Octo Valley. Good luck Blake and I hope you stop octavio and the rebels," said Maxie as she ran off crying, covering her face with her arms.

"(deep breath) way to go Blake, now you've lost Maxie. I can't blame her for how she feels. She...really liked me and she was willing to not only help you find your family but to start a new one. I'm...such an asshole! Best thing to do is continue the mission...after that...I'm just going to leave. I won't tell the others where I'm going," said Blake as he sat up. "Well...time to do this...time to finish this once and for all," said Blake as he headed down toward the tunnel that would take him to the Cephalon HQ, the rebel's stronghold and the lair of Octavio.

Blake made it to the main highway from the city to the rebel's base. He saw a checkpoint as a small group of octolings guarded the entrance to the tunnel. Blake was unarmed and didn't know how he would get past them. He heard the rumbling of vehicles and saw a convoy of Octostamp DX tanks heading for the tunnel. This was his chance to hop on the last tank without getting spotted, hoping it would give him a chance to get to the base without getting captured. He snuck down toward the highway, behind a billboard. As soon as the last octostamp DX was about to pass the big sign he grabbed a hold of it and climbed on the roof. Fortunately he wasn't seen.

The convoy stopped at the checkpoint. The hatch of the first tank opened as one guard walked behind it. "This is the mechanized assault force that was reassigned to hold the city. We're falling back to base for new orders," explained the convoy commander.

"Where's the sergeant-major?" asked the checkpoint guard.

"She's assumed KIA. The last contact we had with her was when the octoseeker was supposed to pick her up. Tentacle Towers has been destroyed and the mission was unsuccessful. That valley traitor and the fossil are missing. Search efforts have been halted so we can reinforce security for the base if the new Octarian government tries to stop the assault on Inkopolis. Once the octozeppelin fleet invades Inkopolis and the city is under our control we'll be prepared to invade the valley," said the convoy commander to the guard.

"Ha, those stupid squids are in a rude awakening. Shame to hear the sergeant-major is dead. That fossil's going to pay for everything he's done like the rest of those inkstains," said the guard.

"We almost had that traitor and fossil before the tower collapsed. The sergeant-major's death will not go in vain. Once we find that human, he's going to wish he was extinct," said the convoy commander before the hatch closed and the convoy pressed on toward Cephalon HQ. Blake was still laying on top of the last tank as he felt the octostamp DX move and continue down the highway toward the base.

* * *

Marie was taking out one octo rebel after another. She had managed to splat two as they ran through the gate of the loading bay as she was perched on top of the warehouse while Serena was hidden behind a crate in front of the warehouse Marie was sniping from. "Somebody take that inkling down!" shouted an elite hiding behind a truck outside the gate. three more octolings converged on the gate and huddled up against the wall as they attempted to shoot at Marie. One ink shot flew by her head as she ducked down. The squid agent aimed her charger at an octoling and shot her right in the head as she jumped from cover in an attempt to kill the inkling.

"Sheldon I hope you're on your way! I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold out and Serena doesn't have much time either," exclaimed Marie as she stressed over her circumstances.

"Cover fire and move in! That inkstain's gotta run out of ink sometime!" shouted an octoling regular. Two octolings jumped from cover and suppressed Marie with ink fire as a small team of octolings rushed in the loading bay and took cover behind crates and other debris.

"They're getting too close to Serena but if I get out of cover I'll get hit. I gotta think of something," said Marie.

The octolings were scurrying closer and closer to Serena's position and Marie would be at a great disadvantage with her charger. "Sheldon! Where are you!" shouted Marie over her headset, trying to get in contact with the horseshoe crab.

"Surrender squid and we'll promise not to kill you!" shouted an octoling down below.

"Like I believe that," said Marie to herself. She was still huddled up behind cover as she was unable to take shots at the rebels. Just then she spotted Sheldon's truck in the near distance. "Agent 2, I'm coming, just hang on!" he shouted over the radio.

"It's about time you got here I thought I'd never...POW!" exclaimed Marie as she was struck by ink from the elite on top of a building across from the loading area. Marie fell back and was struck in the shoulder. "MARIE!" shouted Sheldon seeing the squid sister get hit. He flipped a lid and pressed a red button on the truck's console. "Glad I thought about installing this thing for such an occasion," said Sheldon. As the truck got closer and overhead of the loading area. A hatch opened up on the bottom of the truck revealing an tenta missile launcher on a turret. A TV screen came in the center of the dashboard revealing crosshairs and the octolings down below,

"What is that!" shouted an octoling as she pointed at Sheldon's truck. 'Huh?" replied the elite as she watched the truck circle overhead.

"Eat ink octopi!" shouted Sheldon pulling a trigger on the controls. The tenta missile launcher shot down at the octolings that were cornering Marie and Serena's body. "Inkcoming!" shouted one of the octolings. Some were splattered while some octoformed and fled out of the gate. ink missiles rained down on the bay covering it with ink. "Retreat! The inkling has air support!" one of them shouted as they rushed through the gate.

"Damn it! I won't let that inkling get away!" jeered the elite.

After seeing the rebels get splatted and flee. Sheldon slowly descended into the bay with Marie sitting up with relief to see Sheldon had come to the rescue. "Sheldon...I could kiss you right now if I wasn't in pain. Another hit and I'd be in squid heaven right now," said Marie. She fought to get up and grabbed her charger. She staggered toward the edge and squid jumped down. She quickly grabbed Serena as she opened her eyes to see Marie pack her in bridal style. Marie was struggling after she got hit by the elite.

"Who...are you?" she asked weakly to the squid sister as her eyes were partially open.

"Don't worry...I'm a friend. I'm here to get you back for medical attention," jeered Marie fighting the pain.

"Where's...Maxie?" asked the octoling, struggling to stay awake.

"Look we'll talk about it once we get you treated, right now I'm worried about getting you outta here," said Marie as she finally reached the truck.

"Marie! Thank cod you're ok, what about her?" asked Sheldon as he hopped out and saw Serena trying to stay conscience.

"Hopefully she'll make it. Let's get out of here before the rebels regroup," said Marie as Sheldon grabbed Serena and placer her into the cab. Sheldon hopped back inside as Marie walked over to the passenger side and opened the door. She placed her charger in first beside the half-conscience octoling girl before getting in. A shot could be heard as an ink shot hit the door of the truck causing Marie to lose her grip and fall off. Marie landed on the concrete already felling sore from the ink shot by the elite. She turned to the source of the shot and saw the same elite aiming her octoshot at her from on top of the building across from them.

"Oh no you don't inkling! You're not getting away that easy!" she shouted before snickering.

Marie was helpless as her charger was in the truck until she saw the elite burst into ink. "Huh? But..." she replied in shock. She looked up and saw the barrel of her charger sticking out of the truck. It was Serena holding her weapon toward the elite's position. Marie slowly got up and looked through the door for Serena to smile at her. "You saved my butt," said Marie with gratitude.

"Think...nothing of it...thank you for saving me," said Serena as she rested Marie's charger against the seat before going back to sleep.

"(sigh) Sheldon...let's get out of here and get Serena back to Mt. nantai," said Marie as she hopped in and closed the door.

"You got it. Hang on!" shouted Sheldon as the truck lifted off and the three of them left for Mt. nantai.

An hour later Marie, Serena, and Sheldon finally arrived back at Mt. Nantai. They saw Marina and the octoling Melvin looking up with amazement at Sheldon's flying truck. The truck hovered down and Marie got out grabbing Serena who was now unconscious. "Serena!" shouted Melvin as he rushed over looking at his teammate. Marie placed her down with the octoling male shaking her. "Serena, Serena answer me! What happened to her!?" demanded Melvin who looked at Marie.

It...was my fault, I'm sorry, I didn't know she wasn't with the octo rebels," said Marie with compassion before placing her head down.

"What! You think she was one of them! She was my friend and teammate, If I had my octoshot I would..." shouted an angered and irrational Melvin ready to take a swipe at the squid sister.

Marina grabbed him to calm the octoling. "Melvin stop! You heard what she said. She's sorry... I hate what happened to your friend but this is no time to get angry, Marie was willing to bring her back and help her. You should show some gratitude," said Marina.

Melvin wanted to cry seeing Serena lying on the ground. "She'll be fine, your friend's not dead thankfully but She'll need medical attention right away. I'll be right back," said Marie as she headed over to the shack.

"Melvin don't worry, Marie is my friend and she'll help Serena get back on her feet," said Marina. Melvin just downed his head turned to his friend's motionless body.

"This is all my fault. If I had done a better job at not getting caught then she wouldn't have gotten hurt. This was her first mission and look what happened. Some teammate I am. I never wanted to see her get hurt and now..." said Melvin depressingly.

"Melvin, don't place the blame on yourself. I'm sure you did your best it was the rebels that did this. Melvin don't go beating yourself up. I remember you telling about the time you and her were sent to Octo Canyon and got captured by the octo rebels. You looked out for one another and that's all that counts. These things happen unfortunately in war. I should know. I'm...not proud of what I did under Octavio but I was soldier back then and a soldier follows orders no matter how wrong they may be," said Marina.

Melvin listened to Marina's lecture but he still felt he could've done more to prevent Serena from almost getting killed. He walked away and sat against the rock wall and thought about all the events that had happened to him as Marina felt deeply concerned over the octoling boy. She heard Marie step out of the shack with a first aid kit and some medicine.

"She's pretty critical but I think she has a chance, She'll need medical attention right away, I'll give her some supplements to ease the pain," said Marie as she treated Serena. She shot something in the octoling's arm as she jeered in pain from the needle. The squid sister then turned to Sheldon who was watching out of the truck. "Sheldon, go ahead and go get some rest. See if you can locate Blake tomorrow. I'm sure he and that sergeant survived," said Marie.

"Can do, I hope the octoling will be ok," said Sheldon as he got in his truck and left.

Marina walked over to Marie. "I'll see if I can treat her, I was a medic in the octarian army besides being an engineer. Hopefully, she isn't hurt too bad," said Marina.

"Thank you Marina, by the way, Sheldon never told me why you were here, where's my cousin Pearl?" asked Marie.

"I left Inkopolis after hearing about the inklings wanting to wage war on the octarians. I didn't want to get taken in or get Pearl dragged down with me for housing an octoling," said Marina sadly.

"Marina, you didn't let Pearl know, you guys have been friends for over a year now. Does she even know you left her?" asked Marie.

"I couldn't Marie, It would've been too painful. I couldn't bear seeing her crushed by my decision, I knew she would talk me out of it," said Marina as she wanted to cry.

"Marina, how do you think she would've felt if you leaving unannounced like that. That's not fair to her. You guys are friends and I wouldn't let something like war change that. I think when you get done treating Serena, you should head back and face Pearl. You might want to apologize to her for starters," said Marie sternly.

"You're right Marie, it was wrong to leave like that. She might not wanna even talk to me anymore," said Marina.

"Knowing my cousin, she's rough around the edges but you're her dearest friend, probably her only friend. She'll cool off after a while once she understands why you left," said Marie.

"Thanks, Marie, hopefully things will get better. I'll see what I can do for Serena but by what I can tell she's going to need intensive care. I may need to take her back to my lab where she can get proper treatment," said Marina.

"If you're leaving with Serena, I'm coming too!" exclaimed Melvin who stood up after dwelling on Serena.

"Are you sure Melvin? I mean with the ways things are going and you being an octoling in uniform..." said Marina.

"I'm sure, I don't care what any inkling thinks, she's my friend and I wanna make sure she recovers," said Melvin.

Marina gave a smile as she looked at the anxious octoling. "Very well then, C'mon, I'll let you carry Serena back to the lab," said Marina.

Melvin nodded and carried Serena bridal style and the three of them looked back at Marie before hopping down the storm drain back to Inkopolis. Marie was concerned over them as well as Blake. She gave a sigh and shook her head. "What a day, I'd hoped I get out of the squidbeak a lot sooner but I also didn't bank on meeting a human, making friends with octolings or having to stop that creep, Octavio. Once he's stopped and I get Callie back maybe things can go back to normal," said Marie.

She placed her hero charger down and changed back into her kimono. She fixed some tea to soothe her nerves and eventually fell asleep in her shack but before she did. Thoughts of how the octoling sergeant reacted toward Blake puzzled her. She felt that the octoling may have feelings for him and if so this could prove troubling. She had hoped she was wrong and slowly drifted to sleep.

Unknown to the group a while ago before the octolings left. They were being watched from the other side of the canyon by a group of rebel commandos that were sent to find a way to get to the storm drain that would lead them to Inkopolis. Once there they would provide recoonissance intel and get rid of any threats before the sneak attack on Inkopolis that would be commenced by Octavio and the rebels the following night.

"Wait, that octoling with the black tentacles looks familiar, it can't be. She went missing after Octavio was captured," said one of the elites that were with the commando unit.

She was looking through some binoculars watching the group. "Let me see!" shouted another elite. After spotting Marina she knew who she was. "That's her alright, Marina Ida. She was above her rank when she was with the engineers during Octavio's command. She's also an expert on computers and hacking, surely she would be of some use for busting in the vault since that idiot octopus in the lab coat is having trouble," said another elite.

"Marina Ida, she's a deserter but a genius by what I've heard. She would be of some use. Let's capture her and bring her back to the vault. The major will be most pleased," said another elite.

"We'll capture her and then continue the mission before Octavio and the fleet attack the city," said the last elite.

The four of them watch the octolings disappear in the storm drain and octo formed ready to kidnap Marina and bring her back to the vault.

* * *

Izzy, Indigo, and Luna finally made it to the dome where the abandoned city was located. Luna pulled out her octo charger and looked down the scope to see if their were any rebels patrolling. The three were perched on a near by floating landmass just on the outskirts. "See anything Luna?' asked Indigo.

"Nothing...that's strange?" said Luna. "You would think they would maintain a prescience here but I don't see a soul. They must've pulled out," she continued.

"So that's a good thing right," replied Izzy.

"Not necessarily, it could mean they're planning something and gathering up their forces. I have a hunch they plan on attacking the inklings or possibly the valley. Either way it's not good. C'mon let's move out but be keep your head on swivel," said Indigo as she octo jumped down followed by Luna then Izzy.

After scanning the streets they concluded that the city was vacant and the rebels had left but why? "What do we do now?" asked Izzy.

"Well the only thing we can do is to push on to the rebel base but if their forces have gathered there then it's going to be much harder trying to sneak in, I'm sure they got checkpoints established and if we deal with them, they're just sound the alarm and put the base on high alert. Then their goes our element of surprise," said Indigo.

"Well...any bright ideas?" asked Luna.

"Unfortunately...no," she answered.

Izzy was clueless as the two octolings were discussing about how to get inside the base but a loud humming noise caught her attention. "What's that?" she said but the two octolings were still debating. "Hey who two! I hear something coming!" she shouted at them getting their attention. They listened and soon heard the noise. "Everyone hide!" shouted Indigo as the two octolings octo formed and slithered behind over while Izzy squid formed and hid behind a dumpster.

The noise was getting louder and soon a giant metallic fish appeared around the corner of a building. It ran over a trash can and was acting like it was malfunctioning. It swerved around then turned toward the group. "Oh carp, Industrial Squee-G! Don't let it catch you!" shouted Luna. They changed into their other forms and swam away until the giant metal fish chased them to a T-intersection. Luna and Indigi went one direction while Izzy went the other. The giant robot slammed right into the wall straight ahead of it and sparked. It soon shut down and the robot quit working.

The three stopped once the saw the big robot fish wreck into the building and looked at it. "What the heck is this thing and why did it chase us?" asked Izzy.

"It's an industrial Squee-G. That act as street cleaners but often times they get confused when someone steps in front of them and then they wanna suck you up. They can be quite dangerous so I'm glad this thing hit the wall. Any closer and we would've been sucked up," said Indigo.

"Yeah, over-sized tin can. Not sure why it's operational. Being we produce ink they have the tendency to chase down octarians because I guess and cant tell the difference between trash and an inky bystander.

"You said industrial squee-g? I've used a squee-g to clean the octarian ink off of me. They're very helpful but they were a whole lot smaller," commented Izzy.

"A normal squee-g is fine, octarians use them too but this thing takes to the extreme and doesn't only clean you of foreign ink but you entirely," replied Indigo.

"Enough with all the chit-chat let's find that tunnel so we can get to the rebel's base," said Luna.

"Wait a minute, you mentioned before that there maybe a checkpoint leading to the rebel base that would be guarded by octarians. What If we try and ride this thing. It's pretty big and it sucks up octarians then maybe the guards will run away or get sucked in themselves. It's just a thought," said izzy.

"That has got to be the dumbest idea I've ever heard squid! Not to mention how big and loud that thing is. We're trying to sneak inside the base not attract attention, besides it crashed. Probably broken now," said Indigo.

"That does sound dumb but...I hate to say this but that actually might work unless you think of another way to get through," said Luna.

"What! You can't be serious Luna. has all the ink rushed to your head I mean the pile of junk is out of commission. Even if it did work, it would be like riding a parade float onto the base. Do you want us to smile and wave at the rebels before they splat at us too!?" exclaimed an irritated Indigo as Luna flustered from her comment.

Soon the group got statled as the metal fish hummed and backed out of the wall it crashed in. It turned back around and the light on it flashed as it stopped and parked itself. "Hey! I don't think its broken. It had to realign itself, c'mon let's jump on before it powers back up again," said izzy as she squid jumped on top of it. Luna nodded and smiled as she octo jumped onbaord but Indigo shook her head before giving a sigh of annoyance and defeat. "Guess we got no choice," she said as she jumped on the giant fish. It hummed again and took off down the street toward the main highway.

"You're either crazy or stupid, Izzy. How do you know this will work?" asked Indigo riding the robot.

"I'm not sure you'll just have to trust me on this," said the inkling agent.

"That makes me feel better," said Indigo sarcastically.

"Oh c'mon give the squid a chance. It could work and I say let's ditch the ride before we get there," said Luna. Indigo groaned and just shook her head. They soon spotted the tunnel and the checkpoint being maned by octolings. "What the shell!" shouted one of the guards. The rebel guards looked and saw the industrial squee-g head for the gate but then they spotted Izzy and the two octolings on top of it. "Halt!" shouted the octoling as she stepped out with her hand up.

"Not smart missy," popped of Indigo. The octoling soon turned to fear as she froze for a moment and then turned to run away but it was too late. She was sucked up and reduced to ink. "Shoot them you inkheads!" shouted the guard leader as the other octolings shot at the three riding the giant metal fish. They hunkered down and Luna took pop shots at them with her octo charger. She splattered two leaving the guard leader to herself as she hid behind the kiosk. She shut the gate as the arm went down thinking that would stop the giant robot as it plowed through the checkpoint.

The guard leader covered hr head and closed her eyes. She opened them again and saw the three and the robot continue on down the tunnel. In complete shock at the sight she failed to see the splat bomb tossed at her feet as they passed through. "here's a tip for the toll," sneered Indigo.

"Huh," said the guard a she looked down and saw the swollen bomb. 'Oh fu..." she started but was splatted by the bomb burst. The three continued on down the tunnel feeling unstoppable on the giant squee-g.

"Yeah! Way to go Izzy! This was a great idea," said Luna.

"I guess I got to admit it worked but I still say your either stupid or crazy," said Indigo before smiling and rubbing Izzy's head.

"Well, next stop. The rebel base. I just hope we get their in time before they attack Inkopolis. Flash...I hope we see each other again," said Izzy.

The ride to Cephalon HQ was somewhat relaxing but the three knew the odds wouldn't be in their favor not knowing how much of the rebel forces had gathered at the base and what they would face. Their plans of sneaking inside was at this point, uncertain. Let's hope they can get inside and stop their plans and get the great zapfish back before the inklings wage war on the octarians.


	71. Arc 3 Chapter 22

**Arc 3 Chapter 22**

Deep in Cephalon HQ, Octavio was rallying the cheers of his octarian audience after giving a speech mixed in with his notorious DJ performance with Callie the hypnotized squid sister riding on top of the octobot king. "Now is the time to take Inkopolis and put an end to our suffering my octarian brethren! It's time to extinguish the inkling scourge once and for all! Today will be a day of reckoning for those inkstains and once they have been defeated we will set our sights on the valley and knock the empress of her throne! No one will stop us and the surface will belong to the true octarians!" shouted Octavio as the crowds gave a standing ovation.

"March forward my army and let no squid stand in your way! Those hipsters will get a beat down they'll never forget! Let it be known that the reign of the octarians is here! Go forth and fight!" shouted Octavio as he ascended above the staging area and pulled ahead of the fleet. Callie's bomb rush blush was playing but was remixed by Octavio's beats as Callie lip synced to the song. The ground around the staging area rocked and opened up revealing the octozeppelin fleet as the octarians boarded, preparing for their assault on the inkling capital.

The airships ascended and followed Octavio's octobot king toward inkling territory but one octozeppelin stayed back. Inside it was Major Octsana going over the plans with what octarians and octolings that proved more loyal to the major and the red queen. "Everyone knows what to do. Once the hypnowave emitters are in place, we reset the signal from Octavio's wave to the Red Queen's. Once that is done and the inklings are under our influence we move in on the giant octopus and knock him off along with that brainwashed inkling," said the major.

"Me and my platoon will split up into teams and act like we're placing reinforced security around the emitters. As soon as you give the signal we'll tamper the emitters and the octotroopers will provide watch to ensure no inklings will spot what we are doing," said an octoling regular.

"Ensure you're octolings are in place before Octavio gives his performance sergeant," said the major.

"Soon this will be another big step to victory and the promised land the red queen said she would establish. No more living underground waiting for the power to go out. We take surface by storm and show those inkstains what we're made of, let's go octarians!" shouted the major as the rebels cheered as the octozeppelin took off to catch up with the rest of the fleet.

Meanwhile, an hour later. Marie had almost fallen asleep but the sound of rumbling caught her attention as her tea cup vibrated off the table, causing her to quickly sit up. "What the shells going on!" she exclaimed. She got up and ran out of the shack to see Octavio and the airship fleet heading for Inkopolis. "Oh no! It's Octavio and their headed for the city! I gotta do something!" shouted Marie.

She rushed toward the radio. "Sheldon! Sheldon! This is an emergency! Pick up the radio you dumb crab! Octavio and the octozeppelins are headed for Inkopolis! Warn everybody! Please pick up! Damn it!" shouted Marie as she threw down the radio after not getting a call back. "I've got no choice, it's up to me to stop them," said Marie. She ran back into her shack and suited up into her agent outfit and grabbed her charger along with some splat bombs.

"I won't let you octopi attack the city! Be prepared Octavio! This is for my cousin you bastard!" Shouted Marie as she headed for the training grounds to get Octavio's attention. As she got near the ledge she aimed her charger at the octobot king flying overhead with octozeppelins behind him.

"Soon the city will be ours for the taking! No one will stop us! Not that old hipster Cuttlefish, not that inkstain agent, or that cousin of yours!" shouted Octavio.

"I beg to differ!" yelled Marie before shooting her charger at Octavio. A stream of green ink shot out and struck beside Octavio as a few drops hit him in the face. He stopped the octobot and wiped the green ink off as he looked around with an malicious glare. "Who dares shoot at me!" roared Octavio.

"I DO!" yelled Marie. Octavio looked down and gave the squid sister a narrowed deathly gaze. He descended downward getting closer to Marie who stayed on guard. "So...if isn't the old hipster's granddaughter. Do you seriously think you can stop me inkstain! Think again! Me and my army will take over your precious city and no pathetic squid is going to stop me! Still got hard feelings over the kidnapping of your cousin do ya'" taunted Octavio.

Marie gave a scowl and bared her fangs at the towering octopus. "Where's Callie! I demand you let go! NOW!" demanded Marie who pulled her charger on Octavio.

"You really want your cousin back? Then here she is," said Octavio as Callie stood up revealing herself to Marie. She was still wearing the spandex and sequin outfit from before revealing a red octopus tattoo on her stomach. Marie's eyes lit up seeing her cousin almost dropping her charger. She was a little joyous at seeing the sight of her cousin but also deeply troubled, sensing something wasn't normal. She shown no emotion when she saw her cousin Marie and why was she wearing that outfit.

"Cal!" Shouted Marie, trying to get a response from her cousin. "Cal?" she followed up.

"I'm not so sure wants to go back with you though," sneered Octavio.

Ignoring Octavio she continued to get her cousin's attention. "Callie! Listen to me! It's your cousin Marie! Why won't you answer!?" she shouted but still got no response or anything as Callie just stood there with her arms crossed. Marie then set her attention back to Octavio. "Octavio! What have you done to her!?" shouted Marie as she held the charger up to Octavio ready to end the hulking octopus.

"Ha! She won't listen to you! I've scrambled her brain to follow my orders. She doesn't remember you, Cuttlefish, Agent 3, or that bonehead human! Speaking of which where is that walking fossil!? and don't dare try and get the drop on me because I'll fry the little inkstain's brain if I have to!" sneered Octavio snidely.

"Let her go Octavio! This is your last warning!" demanded Marie applying more pressure to the trigger.

"You know what, that's a great idea," said Octavio before turning toward Callie. "Assistant! Let her know how much you've missed her," commanded Octavio.

"You got it Octavio," said Callie with a grin. She jumped off the robot and cut a flip before landing down in front of Marie on the ledge of the squidbeak training grounds.

"Cal! Listen to me! You gotta break out of Octavio's mind control! I'm your cousin and I don't wanna hurt you and I don't think you wanna hurt me. Please come back to me Callie. Me and gramps miss you and so does Blake," pleaded Marie.

"Blake?" replied Callie as she was starting to become herself as she was starting remember the human she had a crush on.

"Yes, Cal! I know you're in there and got to fight it! Please Callie I know you can!" exclaimed Marie, feeling relief of seeing her real cousin as she gave a smile.

"Marie...I...I..." said Callie as tge memories of her cousin, grandfather, and friends were slowly trickling back.

"C'mon Cal!" shouted Marie trying to win over Octavio's control.

"oh no you don't hipster!" yelled Octavio as he pressed a button on the robot causing the hypnoshades to shock Callie back into submission.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Callie as the shades shocked her. She fell to her knees and was back under the influence of Octavio once again.

"CAAALLLL! Damn it Octavio!" shouted Marie in anger. She pulled her charger out on Octavio and shot but missed due to Callie grabbing the barrel of the charger. Callie slung Marie to the ground and threw the charger aside. Marie was sitting on the ground and shook her head. She spotted her cousin walking toward her with ill intent. "Callie! Please don't do this!" shouted Marie in distress but it was no use. The mind-controlled inkling picked Marie by her collar and threw her toward the ledge but Marie managed to get her footing as she almost fell off.

"Finish her!" shouted Octavio.

Callie rushed at Marie who then dodged her cousin from grabbing her. Callie turned her sight back on Marie and launched a series of punches at the inkling agent. Marie squid formed and swam off toward the exit but was stopped once Callie squid formed and jumped in front of her cousin to stop her from leaving. They both changed back with Callie giving a grin before launching a punch at Marie's face but she evaded and countered it knocking Callie back.

"Cal, don't make me do this," said Marie getting into a fighting stance. Callie wiped her mouth and got into a fighting stance as well. The two rushed toward one another and exchanged attacks with most of them being evaded. After a moment, Marie was seeing that Callie was faltering but trying to keep her composure. Callie was knocked back yet again and bent over to catch her breath before recovering to launch another attack on Marie. She tried to land another punch to Marie but her cousin grabbed her arm and threw across the ground but she squid formed before landing. She changed back and rushed Marie followed by a flying kick that Marie didn't expect. Marie flew back against the rock wall by the shooting range. Marie was finally neutralized and lost all of her strength and will to fight her cousin. She coughed up green ink and looked up at her cousin standing over her.

"Cal...please...I'm your cousin...don't you...remember?" replied Marie weakly. Callie showed no remorse and grabbed her cousin again dragging her back toward the ledge of the training area. Marie had no strength to resist and was heart-broken at the fact that she couldn't get through to her cousin. Callie then picked Marie up by the bottom of her neck and hoisted her over the ledge.

"Now drop her!" ordered Octavio.

"Cal...I love you...don't listen to him," pleaded Marie weakly as Callie was holding her.

Their was moment of stillness between the two cousins. Callie still had not let go of Marie and Octavio was losing his patience. "I ordered you to drop the inkstain!" ordered Octavio.

"Do it Cal," said Marie with a tear running down her cheek. "I don't... wanna see you suffer anymore," said Marie who was getting weaker and weaker. Callie soon had a look of regret and concern on her face behind the shades. She very slowly pulled Marie toward her and away from the ledge. "Marie," she said with a tear running down Callie's cheek. "I'm...sorry," cried Callie.

"It's...ok Cal, it wasn't you..." said Marie as she gave a smile to her cousin who in then smiled back with tears in her eyes.

"I won't ask again!" shouted Octavio as he pushed the button causing Callie to shriek and throw Marie off the cliff. Marie screamed on the way down as Callie had just froze in place before she was subjected to Octavio's control again.

"Good work, squirt, now come. We've got a city to command," said Octavio as he dropped down to pick up Callie.

"Yes...Octavio," said Callie as tears could be seen running down her face seeing what she had done. She didn't have the will to cry over her cousin's demise and instead hopped on the octobot king, reverting back to her subjective demeanor.

Marie fell, watching her cousin hop on Octavio's robot as she plummeted to the bottom. She was sure this was her end and she would never see Callie again until she landed on some hard and metal that flew in and caught her before she reached the bottom. It was Sheldon and his truck. The landing was still hard and Marie was still weak unsure what had just happened as she felt herself move on top of the flying truck. "Sh...Sheldon," she replied realizing what had just happened.

"Marie...don't worry, I've got you! I'm about to land in the canyon down below just hold on!" shouted Sheldon. Marie went to sit up but she fell as she fainted from the near death experience. As soon as they landed, Sheldon hopped out of the truck and climbed up top to check on Marie.

"Marie! Marie! Answer me!" shouted Sheldon frantically.

Marie mumbled and blinked her eyes. "Sheldon?" she said seeing the crustacean looking over now with a smile before jumping for joy.

"Thank god, I made it in time. I got your radio call out but I was tied up. I rushed over to the truck and left as soon as I could!" explained Sheldon.

Marie sat up and held her head. "That's another close call Sheldon but thankfully I can always count on you to rescue me just in the nick of time," said Marie as she gave Sheldon a hug. Sheldon blushed but then looked toward the rebel fleet. "I hate to spoil our moment but... I wouldn't give up a celebratory hug just yet. We gotta stop them!" exclaimed Sheldon.

"Yeah...I...gotta get Callie back," said Marie sadly as she hugged her knees.

"Callie? Wait...what happened up there Marie. Did I just see Callie throw you off the cliff? Surely I don't need new glasses," commented Sheldon.

"No...it was her but she's being manipulated by that...that...bastard! I'll make sure Octavio pays for this!" shouted Marie whose demeanor turned from saddened to angered if not enraged. Sheldon stumbled back a little seeing how furious Marie was.

"Marie, I've never seen you this upset," said Sheldon a little worried.

"Me and Callie have always been together. We might have separated when we had to go to Calamari county for family matters but this time...it's different. I saw Callie the real Callie...Then...Octavio took her away from me...again," said Marie reverting back to saddened state.

"Marie...don't worry, we'll get Callie back and save the city but right now we gotta think of a better plan. Octavio's got Callie on that robot and we're no match for them all by ourselves. Even my truck is just a big target for those rebels," said Sheldon.

"Then what can we do? Cassie and gramps are unreachable and on that Kamabo mission. Blake and Izzy...speaking of which have you heard from either of them. Blake was captured by that octoling but Maxie, surely had rescued him. What about Izzy? Did you ever locate her?" asked Marie.

"Izzy...oh, right, agent 4...yes as a matter of fact...back at the city dome. I had the drone fly all over the place. I had no luck until I spotted three figures down below just outside the city. What I could make out was two octolings escorting what I think was Izzy. I was sure it was her but I couldn't reach her. The head set must've gotten damaged at some time," said Sheldon.

"Wait...Izzy's been captured as well!" exclaimed Marie.

"I don't know but it sure seems like it," said Sheldon.

"Then, we're on our own. It's up to us Sheldon. I promised gramps that I would lead the squidbeak squad and ensure the safety of Inkopolis and to get Callie and the great zapfish back. Now it's time to put my promise to the test. We got to beat Octavio back to Inkopolis without drawing attention. Once we get their we'll head to your shop and gather up what weapons we can to stop Octavio and fleet," said Marie as she hopped down off the truck.

"Marie, even with all those ink weapons at my disposal. The two of us wouldn't be enough to stop Octavio anyway. We're gonna need help," said Sheldon as he jumped down.

"Help, Cassie and gramps are gone and Izzy and Blake have been captured. I know the odds are stacked against us but who else could we possibly recruit at a time like this. Besides enough people have gotten hurt over this and I won't let anyone else get involved," said Marie.

"Oh, Marie...you were always headstrong but let's face it. We're gonna need a little army of our own," suggested Sheldon.

"Like who?" asked Marie bluntly.

"Well I...don't know," said Sheldon meekly as he rubbed his shell.

Marie had a look of pure annoyance before face palming. "You tell me this and then you don't have a solution! Ey...yei...yei, I'm not sure if I'm thankful for you saving me anymore. Let's just get to Ammo Knights and come up with a real plan," said an aggravated Marie.

The truck lifted up and the two of them headed back to Inkopolis without being spotted by Octavio and the rebels. As soon as they reached the docks the truck descended down and the jets reverted back to tires as Sheldon drove Marie back to the square before Octavio had arrived. They drove down a alleyway where the bay door opened for the truck behind Ammo Knights and into a garage. Sheldon and Marie hopped out and hurried to the weapons along with devising a full proof plan to stop Octavio from taking over the city.

* * *

Two hours ago, Marina hopped out of the storm grate in Inkopolis Square. She saw that the once bustling square was empty like the plaza, due to the mandatory curfew. Turf war matches were postponed and the shops were closed down. Marina talked through the grate for the octolings to come out since their was no one around. When Melvin came out with Serena in her arms. The neon lights and signs caught the attention of Melvin as he scanned around. "Whoa...so this is Inkopolis, it's so...colorful," said Melvin who was awe by the scenary.

"Let's focus Melvin. We need to get to Pearl's before we're caught. Theirs a mandatory curfew in effect and us being octolings. We can't afford to get seen, especially how things are right now," said Marina.

"Oh, right... it's just I've never been in Inkopolis," said Melvin. "No wonder you left for the surface...," he continued.

"Yeah, it's nice. It's home...or at least I hope it stays like that," said Marina but then she got stuck in thought as they walked out of the square. "Pearly...I hope you don't me for leaving you like that. We've been friends since I left Octo Valley. You taught me the ways of surface life and accepted me even though where I came from and who I was before I left," said Marina to herself.

"Marina?" asked Melvin as this broke Marina out of her state of mind.

Uhh ...yeah, what is it?" she replied.

"Thank you again...for helping Serena. I just hope...that me and her will get a chance to come back to Inkopolis...like you did when you left the underground domes. I don't want war. I wanna our races to leave in peace," said Melvin.

"Me too Melvin but right now I'm not sure if that will happen. Everything rests on the squidbeak squad and hopefully the neo-octarians will stop them too," said Marina.

They finally made it to pygmy mansion. "Melvin you stay out here with Serena. I guess I better face the music with pearl and explain our situation," said Marina. She opened the door and peeked inside. She slowly walked in and looked around. "Pearly," cried Marina. It appeared that her friend wasn't anywhere as she spotted an empty jar of mayo on the counter. She picked it up and examined it. "Pearl, where are you?" she asked herself.

She plopped on the couch with her head down. Feeling guilty for leaving Pearl by herself. A figure approached from behind seeing her sitting on the couch. They slowly approach the unsuspecting octoling ready to attack her. The octoling heard quiet footsteps from behind her and turned.

The figure jumped over her and landing in front of Marina. It was pearl doing some goofy karate moves and shouting "Hi-ya!" as she got in fake fighting stance. "Get out of my house yo! Or face my...Marina?!" shouted a stunned Pearl.

"Get out of my house you...Marina!" shouted Pearl thinking Marina was an intruder with a broom in her hand.

"Pearl!" shouted Marina.

The two of them stared at each other before rushing into a hug. "Marina! Why'd you leave me like that yo! You had me worried sick!" shouted Pearl with slight anger. She pulled off with her arms crossed glaring at Marie for an explanation.

"Pearly...I'm so sorry, with everything going on I didn't want you getting taken in for hiding me. I know what I did was wrong but I thought I felt it was best," said Marina defending herself.

"You know damn well I would never let that happen! We're best friends and I'd never let the authorities take you away. We're off the hook! Inkopolis loves Us!. Who cares if your an octoling Rina! Another thing, why would you..." said Pearl as something caught her eye. Behind Marina toward the front door appeared the octoling Melvin peering in.

"Marina," said the octoling boy which caused Marina to quickly turn around. He looked at her with worry in his face.

"Melvin, I told you to stay outside with Serena," said Marina.

"But she's having trouble breathing. You gotta do something! " said Melvin in distress as he laid Serena on the floor.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up...uh, Marina, who are these two?" asked Pearl with suspicion.

"Pearl, I like you to meet Melvin and Serena. I met them at Mt. nantai but Serena was hurt and I decided to bring them here to treat her," explained Marina before kneeling down and checking on the octoling girl.

"Wait, a minute, you left because you didn't want me to get in trouble for housing an octoling but yet you bring two more back with you...that's pretty hypocritical don't you think," said Pearl with a displeased look as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Pearl, I had no choice. She was hurt and Melvin wanted to tag along because he is her friend, I couldn't say no!" exclaimed Marina.

"Fine! But our talk is still not over with! I'm still angry at the fact you left and didn't tell me anything!" said an angered Pearl.

Marina picked Serena up and carried her to the lab in her room. Melvin followed her and gave a quick look at Pearl who's expression startled him and he continued following Marina. In the lab, Marina placed Serena on a hospital bed and checked her vitals. She was weak and the supplement was wearing off. Marina hooked her up to an IV and gave her a shot of painkiller. "So...Is she goin' to be alright," asked Melvin.

"She'll be fine, she needs rest more than anything right now. In the morning I'll check on her again and see if she's done any better," said Marina.

Melvin sat on the floor and stared at Serena who was unresponsive. He was deeply worried whether or not she would fully recover from the charger shot. "She's lucky to have a friend like you," said Marina. Melvin looked back at Marina who was smiling at him. Melvin downed his head staring a the floor.

"Yeah...some friend, I couldn't save her from the rebels back at the octoweapons factory or where you guys found her. (sigh) I'm grateful that inkling agent saved her. I guess that goes to show you that our races can live in peace but that bastard Octavio and those rebel scum are willing to keep us apart... all because of payback," said Melvin as he started to feel angry.

He clutched his fist and his anger built up. "Mark my words those rebels are goin' to pay. I won't let them hurt anyone else," said Melvin coldly. Marina was troubled by his change in tone and worried that the octoling would do something drastic. His anger subsided as he looked back at Serena. "So...I guess I'll be staying here then," said Melvin.

"Well, of course, you're my guest and I don't want you to leave your friend, Pearl has a guest room you can stay in for the night," said Marina.

Melvin turned his head and stood up. He had a lot on his mind and he decided to walk out. When he didn't see Pearl anywhere he decided to walk out on the balcony to clear his thoughts. He saw Inkopolis in the near distance and stared at the city that was once a beaming light of its former self. He thought about when he dreamed of coming to the surface and exploring the culture of the surface-dwelling inklings and leaving the octarian army. It seemed his dream came true but not how he wanted. Serena was hurt and octarians were pulled into war by the rebels over the theft of the great zapfish.

He gave a deep sigh and laid his head on the railing on top of his arms. After a few minutes he decided that the city peaked his interest and wanted to go explore. He octo formed and hopped over the balcony to the ground below. He didn't care if he was an octoling soldier in uniform and wanted to see the city some more before he had to head back to the valley.

Two hours earlier about 10:00 PM in Inkopolis. Melvin had left Pgymy Mansion to explore Inkopolis since the curfew was in effect and the inklings wouldn't be walking around on the streets. He watched his surroundings just in case he spotted any authorities that were enforcing the curfew. Seeing an octoling in uniform would probably not go well with Melvin and risk Serena and Marina getting caught too.

He backtracked to the square without running into anyone. The square was beaming with light but empty, so he decided to sit down and observe the square around him. He spotted the Deca Tower and was fascinated by the colorful buildings and advertisements around him. "This must be like an assembly area or something. I heard something about the inklings having "turf wars", whatever those are," said Melvin. Melvin didn't realize he wasn't alone in the square as he was being monitored by the rebel commando unit that was assigned reconnaissance and to deal with any threats imposed on the upcoming assault on the city.

"There's the little octoling soldier that was with Marina and that inkling agent, knows our chance to catch him and grill him for the location of that little genius," said one of the elites with the unit.

Melvin was still sitting at the table still looking around. One of the commando's quietly jumped down off one of the buildings and octo formed, swimming toward Melvin. She formed back and snuck behind Melvin but Melvin heard the octoling elite approach. She went to grab Melvin but the octoling grabbed her arm and slung hher on the table. He pulled out his knife and went to drive it into her but she resisted and rolled off the table before the octoling stabbed her.

"You gotta be sneakier than that, hot stuff," smirked Melvin. The elite barred her fangs and the three other elites jumped down in octo form, beside her.

"Hmpf...what's a shrimp like yourself doing in this part of town anyway. Where's your friends?" asked the lead elite.

"Like I would really tell you," sneered Melvin with his knife out glaring at the elites.

"Tell us and we'll spare your life, pip-squeak," demanded the elite pulling out her knife. The other elites whipped out their octoshots and aimed them down at Melvin.

"four against one, doesn't seem like a fair fight but I guess the more the merrier. Maybe we can talk this out over dinner," smirked Melvin ready for the elites to attack him.

"Like I would go out with a shrimp like you, ha, better luck hooking up with an inkstain," said the elite. "But I guess if you won't cooperate then I guess you're no good to us alive," she continued. "SHOOT THAT OCTOPUS!" she yelled.

The elites fired at Melvin, he dove and octo formed away. "Coward!" jeered the lead elite. "Go after him!" she ordered her team.

Melvin in his octo form rushed out of the square and down the street. "I gotta lose em' I can't let them follow me back to Marina and the others," said Melvin.

He whipped around a corner and changed back behind a dumpster. "I think I lost them," said Melvin catching his breath.

"Think again!" shouted an elite as she jumped at Melvin, kicking him out from behind the dumpster. Melvin found himself surrounded by the elites yet again with weapons drawn. "Give up! Your surrounded!" shouted another elite.

"I won't go down that easily! He rushed one of the elites and grabbed her weapon slinging her into another elite. One of the other elites growled and shot at Melvin as he octo jumped and tackled the elite. The lead elite glared at the octoling. "If you want things done, then you gotta do it yourself," she sneered. She whipped out her octoshot and fired at Melvin. The octoling boy dodged her fire but she anticipated his movements and managed to hit him in the leg. He yelped and fell over.

"Your finished shrimp! All you have to do is give us the location of Marina Ida and we might let you go," said the lead elite as the others got behind her. Melvin struggled to get back up and held his leg. "Screw you! I already said I'm not telling you!" jeered Melvin.

"Have it your way, prepare to turn this traitor into an ink puddle," said the lead elite. She held her hand up to signal her team to fire at Melvin. They aimed their octoshots at Melvin and prepared to fire once their leader gave the command. "FIRE!" shouted the elite but as they shot Melvin blocked his body with his arms preparing to be splattered. Instead of the ink shots hitting him a figure jumped in front of him and blocked the fire with her splatbrella. The elites froze in place and Melvin opened his eyes to see that Marina had blocked the ink fire.

"Marina? What are you doing here!" exclaimed Melvin who was both shocked and relieved by Marina saving him.

"You should've have left like you did! Inkopolis is no place for an octoling right now! You had me worried!" shouted an angry Marina.

"Didn't you say you left your friend Pearl," said Melvin crossing his arms.

Marina blushed and downed her head. "You're right but still...I'm glad I came," said Marina.

"Aww...how brave, you must be Marina, I recognize you now," said the lead elite as the two turned to the group. "You deserted the army after our glorious leader was caught by those wretched inklings. How could you betray us and dwell among these inkstains. That's grounds for execution but fortunate for you, we need your expertise to get inside the vault," said the elite.

"The vault? I've heard about it but what do you need me for?" asked Marina with her guard still up.

"You'll find out soon enough deserter! Now, come with us!" demanded the lead elite.

"What makes me think I'll go with you!" shouted Marina. The lead elite nodded at one her team mates and she octo jumped behind Melvin and Marina. She kicked Marina down losing her splatbrella and grabbing the wounded Melvin, putting a knife against his neck. "Melvin! Don't hurt him!" she pleaded.

"We won't as long you do as we ask," said the lead elite. The elite that had a hold of Melvin pressed the blade closer drawing ink out of his neck.

"Stop! I'll do as you ask!" shouted Marina.

"Good," jeered the elite as she signaled her teammate to let go of the octoling boy. She pushed him down on the ground and kicked him in the head. "Now, you'll come with us and hack into the computer that controls the vault doors, got it," sneered the lead elite.

Marina slowly walked over to the lead elite in defeat not wanting any harm to come to Melvin. "Ma'am what about the inklings?" asked her teammate. "We'll set up ink charges around on our way out to draw the inklings out of their homes. Then it's all up to the fleet and Octavio to take care of the rest," said the lead elite.

Melvin shook his head and saw Marina going with the commando unit. "Marina!" he shouted struggling to stand up. He reached his arm out to the group but they soon octo formed and left the area. Melvin was too weak and decided that he had to head back to the mansion and let Pearl know what happened. He feared the midget inkling would beat him to a pulp if she knew it was his fault that she got captured in the first place.

He finally stood up and stumbled down the street toward the direction of the mansion. It was a while until he reached the mansion. He walked through the front hobbling and it wasn't long until he was confronted by Pearl. "Hey, Octopus! Where's Marina!" she demanded, pinning Melvin against the wall. "I...I...um, can explain," stammered Melvin with his hands up. "Spill it! Or I'll knock that beak of yours down your throat, where's my friend Marina! She ran out to go look for you!" shouted Pearl angrily.

She pulled off and gave Melvin a glare as she tapped her foot. Melvin gave a sigh and looked down. "She...got captured," said Melvin meekly.

"Captured!...by who, if anything happens to Marina so help me I'll make you wish you were never born!" yelled Pearl as she hemmed Melvin against the wall again with her fist in his face.

"Look I'm sorry! I'll get Marina back I swear but first, we need to wait for Serena to recover," said Melvin.

"Listen here, I don't care about your octoling friend. It's because of you that the great zapfish was taken and why Marina left me in the first place! Things were so much easier when it was just me and Marina and now she's gone again, taken by those busters! I'm not waiting! I'll go and rescue Marina myself so stay out of my way!" shouted Pearl in a fit of anger.

"Look inkling! I said I was sorry! You don't need to run off and fight those rebels, They'll just kill you! We have to devise a plan if we're going to get marina back, besides you don't know where they would've taken her but I do," said Melvin.

"So tell me then octoling, what did they want with Marina anyway?" demanded Pearl.

"They took her to a place called the vault. It's somewhere between the canyon and the valley. They knew who she was and knew she was an expert with computer systems. I don't know what they're up to but it can't be good," said Melvin.

"Devise a plan! Hmpf, I'll just go up in there and start kicking some octo butt with my skills and splat dualies," sneered Pearl.

Melvin shook his head. "I don't know Marina puts up with you," said Melvin. He walked away with Pearl looking displeased at his comment. "I'm goin' to go check on Serena if you don't mind," said Melvin as headed to the lab.

"Whatever," said Pearl as she walked off.

Melvin made it to the lab where Serena was resting on the bed. He saw that she had rolled on her side as he walked over to check on her. He sat down after looking at her and downed his head, deep in thought. "Serena...now Marina...I...can't keep anyone safe," said Melvin as he covered his eyes. I tear mean down his face feeling nothing but deep regret for his actions. After a moment the octoling girl slowly opened her eyes and saw Melvin sitting in a chair beside the bed.

"Melvin..." she weakly said. Melvin quickly picked his head up and saw Serena awake looking at him. "Serena..." he said wiping the tear off his face.

"Hey Melvin, why are you crying?" she asked.

"Huh...oh, it's nothing. I'm just glad to see you're ok. How are you feeling?" said Melvin as he stood and hugged Serena as she sat up.

"I'm feeling much better, where am I?" asked Serena as she looked around.

"Oh, this is Pearl and Marina's place. Marina was the one who wanted to bring you here so she could treat you. It's her you should thank...if she were here," said Melvin as his mood changed from joyful to depressing.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Serena.

"It's my fault...she got caught by the rebels because of me, She saved me but at the cost of getting captured by the rebels and now she's been taken back to Octo Canyon. All I do is get people hurt! What kind of octoling soldier am I!" shouted Melvin in a distressed outburst. He sat back down covering his face.

"Melvin, it's not your fault," said Serena as she got out of bed and approached Melvin. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her. "I'm here because of you, Your the bravest person I know and you did your best to try and get us away from the rebels. Don't blame yourself for what the rebels did. You're a great friend and soldier and I think the sarge would be proud of you if she were here," said Serena.

"You...really think so," said Melvin.

"I know she would, even though she might be hard on you," said Serena. Melvin chuckled and stood up. Serena gave him a hug and the two left out of the lab.

"So I guess we better go stop the rebels and get marina back then," said Melvin. The two headed inside the main den of the mansion. "Wow... this place is amazing, this where Marina lives?" asked a perplexed Serena. The both of them heard footsteps running toward them around the corner. It was Pearl who stopped and bent over catching her breath in front of them. "Pearl, what is it, what's wrong?" asked Melvin.

"I don't think we have to worry about catching up to those octarians because they're already here!" shouted Pearl flailing her arms.

"What are you talking about?" asked Melvin.

"Go look for yourselves!" exclaimed Pearl point out toward the balcony. The three of them rush outside on the balcony and their eyes widened. They saw the rebel fleet circling with Octavio leading the attack. "Oh carp," said Melvin. The three were unsure what to do and didn't expect the rebels to appear over the city. "We gotta do something!" shouted Serena.

"I Agree, but how?" replied Melvin.

"Well don't just stand there! You two are octolings! Go up there and pose as those rebel dudes and kick their butts when they least expect it! You're the one that got Marina captured, do something octopus or else!" demanded Pearl forming a fist.

Melvin gulped and turned back to the rebel airships. "I guess we got no choice, we gotta stop them before they attack the inklings," said Melvin.

"I'm with you Melvin. Let's go!" shouted Serena.

"I guess I'll go too. Someone's gotta make sure this guy doesn't get anyone else caught," said Pearl.

Melvin shook his head and the three of them dropped down and headed for Inkopolis to face the octo rebels before they started the attack.

* * *

Six hours earlier, Back at the Neo-Octarian Army HQ. Head of the research branch, Ruby an octoling researcher and archeologist over the labs was headed down a hallway inside the medical facility to check on the recovery of Lieutenant Octillia. Along with three octoling soldiers behind her.

Ruby knocked on the door of the Lieutenant's room and peered inside. "Lieutenant...are you awake?" she asked. The octoling researcher walked in and spotted the lieutenant staring out of the window. "Lieutenant? Shouldn't you be laying down?" she asked with the elite's back turned.

She turned around facing Ruby. "I'm fine Ruby...I had to get up before my legs turned numb. What are you here for?" she asked the octoling in the lab coat.

"Well your staff wanted to give you some news," said Ruby directing the octolings to come in. The three of them walked in to face their commander. "Ma'am we wish to report the rebel's had intentions of attacking Inkopolis but their plans were foiled thanks to our fleet. Someone informed us of their scheme and we sent a small fleet of octozeppelins to investigate. Fortunately they were stopped and all their airships were shot down before they attacked they inklings," said one of the octolings.

"Who was the informant, was it Sargent Maxie?" she asked.

"No, it was an anonymous source. The only thing we could gather was the message came from Octo Canyon," said the octoling.

"Have you heard anything from the sergeant and the recon team?" asked the lieutenant who was starting to get concerned.

"No, ma'am...we haven't anything back from them. I'm sorry to say we can only assume their...KIA," said the octoling.

"Negative! I won't hear that! I know she's still alive. She's a survivor," exclaimed the lieutenant refusing to hear that her best friend could be dead.

"I believe she's alive too, I know its been over 24 hours in since their last contact but knowing her she's out there somewhere," said Ruby.

"Well, we can send in another recon team to search their last location," said one of the octolings.

"(sigh) I'm not sure if that would be a good idea. Maybe her team had went into radio silence. With the terrain the way that it in the canyon, they maybe having a hard time getting any kind of reception. I don't wanna risk another team going missing, stay close to the comms and make sure she is still out there," said the lieutenant.

"Yes, ma'am. We'll let you know," saluted the octoling soldier.

"What about my sister...the major," asked the lieutenant. Ruby shook her head and the octolings looked at each other.

"Much like the sergeant, we haven't heard anything out of her neither. We assume she was the one commanding that fleet of octozeppelins that planned an assault on Inkopolis. An octoseeker was seen vacating the area and by the reports of the fleet commander, an inkling was pursuing an octoling elite on the rebel's command zeppelin. The elite was seen hoping on the fleeing octoseeker but the inkling vanished. I'm sure we can agree the elite was the major," said one of the octolings.

"An inkling? Interesting, I can assume it was squidbeak agent. This can complicate things but may also play to our advantage. The squidbeak unit does have a history of stopping Octavio and his plans...we should know," said the lieutenant.

"Well, Lieutenant, do you feel well enough to return to the command center, I hate to say it but...we miss you," said one of the octolings.

"I don't think she's ready yet. Those were some serious life-threatening wounds. She may need more time to..." said Ruby but was cut off by the lieutenant.

"That's enough Ruby. I'm well enough to head back. I say it's time for me to return to my duties. I'm getting stir crazy staying in this room and I just wanna return to my post," said the lieutenant.

"Very well, I can't stop you and I know how stubborn you can be, good luck Lieutenant," said Ruby as the elite gave her a nod and smile before leaving the room with the other octolings.

"(sigh) She's so eager to get back to work, guess I can't blame her though. It's pretty boring laying in this room. Glad to see she's doing a lot better," said Ruby as she walked out of the room.

As the lieutenant and her team leave out and walk in the other direction for the command center, she turns to face Ruby. "Oh and Ruby... thanks for looking out for me while I was in recovery," said the lieutenant trying to smile. Ruby smiled back and nodded as the elite left with her team.

Ruby returns to the research facility to be approached by one of her staff members who appeared to be quite concerned about something. "Yes, what's the matter?" she asked the octoling researcher.

"It's Otto, we haven't heard from him since he left for family matters. We even sent someone to go see if he was to his apartment or not, surely he would've let us know something" said the octoling.

"Huh, I wonder where he could've gone?" asked Ruby.

"There's another thing, someone had tampered with the computers and copied the data of the DNA of the human fossils. We checked the security cameras and we made a startling revelation, It was Otto who messed with the equipment and copied the data on a small drive. Why would he lie and copy the data?" asked octoling researcher.

"I don't know but we need to find out. We need to find out where Otto ran off too and why he took the data," said Ruby. After a moment a group of octolings rushed into the lab lead by the lieutenant. "Ruby! Where's that researcher of yours, the male with the glasses," she demanded.

"Huh! What's going on! Why did you just burst through the lab like you did?" asked a startled Ruby. "That male researcher where is he!" she commanded again with her guards armed with octoshots behind her.

"You must be referring to Otto, we don't know ourselves. We just found out he snuck into the lab and stole some data from the computer. The data on the DNA and the fossils" said Ruby.

"That's not the only thing he stole. He also snuck into the stockades and freed that rebel from her cell and snuck off into the night," said the lieutenant crossing her arms.

"What! Otto would never do something like that! You don't think he... defected did you," said Ruby.

"It looks like it. There's no way you can get a hold of him?" asked the lieutenant.

"No, we haven't. That's why someone was sent to his apartment but he apparently wasn't there," said Ruby.

"This is most troubling, first the rebels try to raid the lab, now one of your researchers has changed sides. This is got to do something with the vault but It's inaccessible, when we were under Octavio's command we couldn't even get inside of it and the operation was scrapped," said the lieutenant.

"So you think Otto and that rebel left for the vault?" asked Ruby.

"I'm sure of it, but what would those rebels want with the data on the human fossils and DNA?" asked the Lieutenant.

"I don't know either. They must know something we don't. maybe the data is somehow connected to the vault. It was built by humans after all," said Ruby.

"Let's not delay, we'll find out once we get there and don't expect me to go easy on that little turncoat of yours," said the lieutenant as she walked out with her guards.

The staff turned to Ruby unsure about the situation. "(sigh) Otto, why did you do this?" she asked herself. The octoling researcher walked over to comfort Ruby. "Ruby, it'll be ok. We'll find out what's going on and the rebels will be stopped. It hurts me to see one of our own switch sides. I thought Otto could be trusted but I guess we were wrong," said the octoling.

Ruby turned to her friend and gave a nod. "I think I'll do a little investigating of my own. Was anything left at Otto's station," asked Ruby.

"No ma'am, we looked already, he cleaned it out which was odd," said the octoling.

"Then I guess I better go to his apartment and do some digging then," said Ruby as she started to leave.

"I'm coming too," said the octoling.

"Very well, I guess we could cover more ground if it was the two of us," said Ruby. She turned back to the staff. "Right now, I guess find out if Otto went through anything else, maybe he left some clues behind," said Ruby.

The staff nodded and started going through desks and the computers. Ruby and the other octoling left out for Otto's apartment to see if there was any reason why he joined the rebels.

Ruby and her assistant were headed to Otto's apartment at the Octarian Capital, Octopolis, The city wasn't quite as big as Inkopolis but was the busy hub of the octarian race. Many octarians were walking down the sidewalks as one was selling out newspapers by its stand and one could be seen selling what looked like a hotdog to another octarian. The buildings were much more simplistic and bland compared to Inkopolis. Even advertisement signs and screens could be seen hung off buildings for the latest in octarian products. With Octavio no longer in charge of the valley, the octarians could focus on improving their lives with the zapfish they had received from the inklings as an agreement from the peace treaty.

Ruby was driving her car to the apartment complexes. The car was based on a geo metro hatchback. Primarily red with some panels or sections in a different color. The car looked like some kind of backyard project with tubes shooting from out of the engine compartment and other improvised attachments that made the vehicle stand out. There aren't many personally owned cars used by the octarians as any vehicles that were found were left behind by the original occupants of the domes. Many of them broke down and the octarians welded and constructed them back together the best they could with the resources they had. Much of the octarians utilize mass transit or walk from place to place in the underground domes.

"Where on earth did you get this thing?" asked the octoling that rode with ruby.

"It's just something I came came across. It's not much but it gets me from point A to B every day," said Ruby.

Ruby and her assistant finally reached the apartments and the two got out as the car backfired from the alternative fuel source, Kelp gas. "Well, let's see what we can find," said Ruby. They head up and reach Otto's apartment on one of the upper floors. The door was locked but Ruby managed to pick it. They opened the door and the inside of his apartment was riddled with paperwork and garbage. "Geez, he should take better care of himself," said the assistant.

"Yeah, this is gonna make it harder to find anything in here. Let's start looking," said Ruby.

For minutes on in, they scoured through the mess and organized as much as they could. The octoling assistant wanted to throw up after uncovering old moldy food left behind under the trash but soon Ruby would come across something of great interest. "Come here, look!" shouted Ruby.

"What is it! What did you find?" asked the octoling.

Ruby came across a large muddy case under Otto's bed. She dragged it out and laid it on the floor. "What is that?" asked the octoling.

"I'm not sure," said Ruby as she wiped it off. The case was dented up. A logo appeared and not just any logo, it was the Kamabo logo. "Wait, that's the logo that was on those ID cards left by the fossils. What's it doing here and how did Otto come across it?' she exclaimed.

"I don't know, I wonder if it's unlocked?" asked Ruby.

She pulled up the tabs of the case and for their fortune, it was unlocked, and inside were folders containing more paperwork and a mysterious vial of bluish-green liquid. Ruby opened the folder but the writing was unreadable, it was human writing by what she could tell. "I can't read any of this," said Ruby and as she scrolled through it. Their was a picture of a human that was paper clipped inside one of the pages. She pulled it out and looked. "Is...that a human, who is he?" asked the octoling assistant.

"He's wearing a lab coat, maybe he's a researcher like us. Could...he been one of the fossils we uncovered?" asked Ruby.

The paper that the picture was clipped to, looked like some kind of resume and the signature down on the bottom read. Dr. James Carter though the octolings couldn't understand the handwriting. The page described some kind of mutagen that was being tested for the purposes of adapting human life to the new world that the humans would inhabit after the ark polaris would land back down. Further down the page, the project has deemed a failure, and the mutagen unpredictable and a failure.

Ruby saw going though the paperwork as futile and turned her attention to the vial of unknown liquid. She picked it up and examined it. "be careful Ruby, we don't know what that is?" said the octoling.

"We have to take this back to the lab right away. I'm not sure what Otto is doing with it but I can only imagine the rebels probably want as well. If he left the case behind then I'm sure he'll be back to come and get it. Let's take the case with us before he does," said Ruby. Ruby grabbed the case and the two leave the apartment and headed back to the lab to examine the strange liquid.

Ruby throws the case in the trunk and the two of them leave for the octoling army HQ. "I'm going to go ahead and call Lieutenant Octillia. We might not know exactly where Otto is and what his motives are but at least we found that case. Hopefully we'll get some answers and figure out why Otto hid it," said Ruby as she pulled her phone out.

"Lieutenant! We've received a call from Ruby, they're already on their way back," said an octoling soldier rushing in.

"Have they found anything?" she asked.

"Yes, they found a case containing paperwork with the picture of a human researcher inside it. Plus they also came across a vial of an unknown liquid. They said they would bring back to the lab and examine it," said the octoling.

"A picture of a human? Vial? We'll have to know more once they get back, in the meantime I want a platoon of octolings sent to the vault right away, ensure they get some air support from our octostrikers once they're in place. We cannot allow the rebels to get inside the vault and we don't know what intel that traitorous researcher may give them. The unit has my permission to attack any rebels that may be hold up outside the vault, " said the lieutenant.

"Yes, ma'am," saluted the octoling.

The lieutenant headed back to the lab to await the arrival of Ruby and the other octoling with the mysterious case. The platoon of octarians and octolings were sent out to the vault and impede any rebel activity there. With the discovery of the Kamabo marked case and the vault being brought up, it was unsure what the rebels were doing and what their plans were.

Ruby and her assistant were on their way back to the base. "Well, I just informed them of the case and it's contents. Let's hope we can find a way to decode those documents and figure out what that liquid is," said Ruby. As they were driving they didn't realize they were being followed by a large armored van. Ruby looked at her rearview mirror and noticed that the vehicle was getting close. "Huh, I didn't see that van behind us a while ago," said Ruby. The other octoling turned and looked.

After a moment it picked up speed and rear-ended Ruby's car. "What the shell!" she shouted. The van attempted another ram on her vehicle but Ruby quickly maneuvered from it. "Hold on!" she shouted. The van drew behind and attempted to speed up and catch Ruby and her assistant. "Ruby! It's catching up!" shouted her assistant.

The van attempted to ram her again and managed to spin Ruby around and she lost control. The van slowed down and Ruby got control of her car back and braked it to stop spinning as she hit the accelerator to get away from the armored van again. "I think I finally got away from him," said a scared Ruby as she was shaken up.

"You think so?" asked her assistant. Ruby gave a quick nod as she kept her eyes on the road. "Well, not for long you won't," said her assistant.

"What?" replied a stunned Ruby. Her assistant grabbed the steering wheel as the two of them struggled to control the car. "What are you doing!" shouted Ruby.

"We want that case, now pull over!" demanded the octoling.

"Make me!" shouted Ruby.

"Very well then," sneered the octoling. She punched Ruby in the cheek knocking Ruby out for a moment. The car ran off the road and into a ditch. Ruby's face was laying against the window and the assistant shook head to recompose herself from the crash. She opened the trunk and grabbed the case. Ruby slowly opened her eyes and staggered out of the car. She fell down into the ditch and turned to her assistant. "Opal...what are you doing?" she asked stunned at the actions of her assistant.

"You honestly believe Otto worked alone. That dim bulb of an octopus, you saw his apartment. I'm the one who informed those rebels about how to get to the research facility. I informed them about the data on the DNA and fossils we uncovered but that lieutenant had to be a hero and foil our plans. I was supposed to be the one to retrieve the case from that dipshit's apartment, couldn't trust him with the task so I used you to find that case for me," sneered the octoling.

"You, used me all along and put our research team in danger! You sorry excuse for an octopus! I trusted you and now you've aligned yourself with the rebels!" shouted the irritated Ruby as she struggled to stand up from getting bruised during the collision.

The armored van caught up and parked beside the road. Octoling rebels dismounted and met with the assistant. "Do you have the case?" asked one of the rebels.

"Right here," she said shaking it.

"You won't get away with this!" jeered Ruby as she spit out ink.

"I already have, my dear but don't worry I won't leave without giving you a parting gift," said the assistant. The octoling rebel handed her a splat bomb and a look of dread fell across Ruby's face. "It's been nice working with ya," sneered the octoling as she threw the bomb at Ruby's feet. As she and the rebels walked away they heard the explosion of the bomb and the octoling assistant gave a smirk before they loaded up and left.

Luckily Ruby managed to get away in time but got knocked forward by the concussion of the blast. She was partially covered by the ink and was struggling to stay conscious. She weakly grabbed her octophone and pulled it out. She typed in the lieutenant's number and she answered it. "Ruby where are you?" asked the lieutenant on the other line.

"I'm hurt. Opal...betrayed us. Took the case and...left with the rebels (coughing)" Ruby said weakly.

"What! Ruby we're on our way, hold on!" exclaimed the lieutenant. Ruby finally closed her eyes and dropped the phone as she laid near the crashed vehicle. Let's hope the lieutenant will get there in time before Ruby succumbs to her injuries.

* * *

Maxie was crying against a tree after she had her feelings hurt by Blake's rant, feeling she had been nothing but a burden towards him. Enraged by his situation who took his anger out on Maxie who interned expressed her inner feelings toward the human. Blake's temper might have resolved but it was too late has his insensitive demeanor made Maxie feel insignificant. She fled trying to hide her tears as she Blake to himself to continue his mission while she was intent on heading back to the valley and return to her soldiering duties. She disregarded what her mother had told her and accepted the fact she and Blake would never start a relationship or share a bond with one another.

"(sniffle) So...that's how he feels. I should've known things wouldn't work out. My mother kept talking about my inner conflict and how I needed Blake to overcome it. Hmpf...I don't need him...I don't need anybody! I can do this on my own!" shouted Maxie as she wanted to cry but she held back and straightened her posture. "Get it together Maxie...you'll overcome this and defeat Major Octsana. You're a soldier. You can't hold on to these feelings anymore. So get over it," said Maxie as she wiped her eyes.

She started to walk away when the sound of her mother's voice stopped her. "Mother?" she replied hearing her voice in her head. "Maxie," She said again. "My dear Maxie. Don't do this. I beg you to make amends with what Blake said. He is like you fighting a battle he can't win unless you're their with him. You two share a bond that you can't see and can't understand unless your willing to," said Maxie's mother.

"I tried to extended my hand to him but he pushed it away as he was ranting about his family and being frozen in time. He didn't have to take it out on me. I love him but...I don't think he feels the same way towards me though. Besides he's a human as I've said before. The octarians wouldn't accept it and what of his family. Is it possible they may still be alive somewhere?" asked Maxie.

"I know of the fate of Blake's family but things right now will be hard to comprehend. Blake will not take the truth well. His family play's a key role of why me, you, the inklings and the octarians came to be and why Blake might have survived all this time and got separated from his family. Things happen for a reason and right Blake is not just vital to you but everyone. Something is coming and it intends to destroy everything around it. All I could see is a giant come out of the water and wipe everything out in a bright green light that exterminated everyone around it. I am utmost troubled by this vision and Blake must make a stand against this thing and whether or not he should make a decision to accept his situation or reject it with dire consequences to follow; not just on him but everyone," explained Maxie's mother.

"Giant? Green light? Blake?," said Maxie. "What you're saying doesn't make any sense. Out with it mother! What are trying to warn me about!? If this does affect everyone then I need to know and how to stop it," demanded Maxie.

"Only Blake can stop it...if he chooses to. Right now if he doesn't make peace with himself then he will get consumed in deep regret and become vulnerable to the entity that will destroy this world of ours. You have help him as he can help you. The future of the inklings and octarians rest on his shoulders but you must act and prevent that future from dying," said her mother with distress.

"Mother I... don't know if I can. Are you certain this will all happen?" asked Maxie.

"I'm afraid so my daughter. I don't wanna see anything happen to you or anyone else. As I said Blake can stop it, he is the key to your survival," replied Maxie's mother.

Maxie was unsure whether or not if what she said was true but she knew she was truthful when she revealed herself to be her dead mother, though she kept this hidden from her at first and why did she appear to Maxie now? The octoling sergeant turned away deep in thought and hesitant about how to respond to everything her mother had told her.

"Maxie?" cried her mother. Her daughter still didn't respond. "Maxie" she cried again. Maxie tried to drown out her mother and was deep in thought, still in trying to decide what she should do. "Maxie, you make a choice," advised her mother.

"You're not making this easy. This has put a ton of weight on my shoulders. You say that Blake can only stop it, how? He probably wouldn't listen to me anyway so I might as well head back to valley and tell the lieutenant. If they would even believe me," said Maxie.

"Maxie, I'll leave you to choose but heed my warning. Your future rests in the balance of Blake's hands. Please don't make this hard on me," said her mother compassionately.

"Well, you sure made it hard on me and now you're leaving me again...like you did when I was a young hatchling. I wanna now what really happened to you and now! No more kept secrets! Was it really a training accident like I was told?" demanded Maxie.

Their was silence for a moment as Maxie anxiously waited for a response. She turned around and saw the entity that was her mother's manifestation standing before her. "You...deserve an answer but I never wanted to tell you," said the entity. She turned into an immense bright light that soon surrounded Maxie as she placed her arm in front of eyes as to not get blinded. When she opened them, she found herself inside the lobby of a hospital, the octopolis hospital to be exact. "Where am I?" asked Maxie as she looked around. "Wait, I know where I am but how did I get here?" she asked herself again.

Maxie's mother was no where in sight and Maxie was baffled by what had happened. She could recall being in the city dome before getting consumed in light. "This is the day you were born," said the entity in her mind.

"What? The...day i was born but I want to know what happened to you? Why did you bring me here?" she asked.

"Patience my daughter. I wanted to show you my most cherished memory. A day that gave me the reason to hope," said her mother.

The surroundings around Maxie changed again from the lobby to the room her mother was in when she was alive. She turned around and saw an octoling holding something that looked like a wrapped blanket on the bed. "Is...that you?" Maxie asked.

"Yes and you can assume whose wrapped in that blanket she's holding," replied her mother. The octoling on the bed turned over what appeared to be a little red octopus. The octopus opened her eyes and stared at her mother as she smiled down at her new daughter. "It's...me," said Maxie. "I can vaguely remember this day but it's been so long," said Maxie as a tear ran down her cheek. The door opened and a male octoling walked in. "So, how's my two girls doin' " he said heading over to the bed.

"Good, she just woke up. I bet she would love to see her father," said her mother laying on the bed.

The male octoling held up the little octopus wrapped up. "How's my little girl. Have we given her a name yet?" he asked.

"Maxie," replied her mother. The male gave a smile. "Maxie it is then. What a beautiful name for a beautiful daughter. She sure takes after her mother and not to change the subject but have you thought about leaving the army, I mean now that we can start a family," asked Maxie's father. Her mother turned her head with a disappointing look. "I...can't," she responded. "What! What do you mean you can't !? Surely they're not making you stay. You have a daughter now," exclaimed her father.

"I've got no choice, I've done pleaded with the major about it but she couldn't. She did her best but Octavio's wanting every able bodied octarian to stay in. Our zapfish power supply is diminishing and they fear it's just a matter of time until the valley domes start shutting down. They've already taken any resources they can from the canyon as well as relocate all the citizens from there. It's causing more consumption for everyone here and Octavio is calling for an invasion of the inkling territory to steal their zapfish," said her mother.

"So...Octavio's wanting to go to war with the inklings. That's just great...we have a daughter and now we don't know how much longer we'll survive underground. The inklings drove us here and now were at the mercy of the power shortage. The inklings have nearly taken everything from us and now possibly my family too. We need to take back the surface, even if it means exterminating those squids," said her father.

"Don't say that! I don't believe war is the answer and octavio is only making things worse. Instead of steadily building up his army. We could've been researching new ways to power the domes. Instead of drafting more octarians, those same octarians that could've constructed alternative power supplies that our engineers could've come up with. What would taking the inklings zapfish solve. What then once those zapfish die off from power use?" asked her mother who disapproved of the male octoling's tone. Maxie's mother was very critical of Octavio and believed that peace could be established among the two races if octavio chose diplomacy but that was very unlikely to happen.

"Don't criticize our ruler we may have octarians listening to us. You know that offense is punishable by internment. I don't wanna see my daughter without a mother to raise her. I myself at times question Octavio's motives but what choice do we have. Let's focus on trying to start a family even if that means being in the octarian army. I'm not sure what we'll do?" insisted Maxie's father.

"We'll think of something, have faith and we'll get through this...for Maxie's sake," said her mother as she was handed over the little red octopus who was steadily staring at her mother. The scenery around Maxie became a blur followed by nothing but darkness. Maxie closed her eyes to reel in what she had saw and soon she found herself in what appeared to be an office of some kind. She looked around studying her surroundings until she spotted an octoling elite staring out of a window.

"(sigh) How much longer until the zapfish finally burnout? The valley is down to 40% output and dropping by the day. If Octavio doesn't do something soon then we're good as dead. We have nearly enough troops to invade Inkopolis minus the personnel that got pulled to do dome repair. We're going to have to act unless Octavio wants to see a revolt and I would prefer it not come to that. We have enough problems as it is and I don't wanna have to send soldiers to suppress any rioting," said the elite with exasperation.

Maxie looked at the elite wondering who she was but when the black tentacled octoling turned around Maxie recognized her as Major Octsana. The one that tried to kill her and her former mentor. A knock was at her door before a figure walked in. "Major, here she is," said an octoling regular wearing her googles. Behind her was Maxie's mother being guided in the office by another octoling shoving her through the door.

"What's this all about! What's going on!?" exclaimed Maxie's mother who stumbled inside, now facing Major Octsana. With her arms behind her back, the major stared at the octoling with disapproval. "I've been hearing...stories about a possible coup. What I've also learned is that you and your husband are planning to leave the valley as well. Explain yourself," demanded the major.

"What! I don't what this all about but please I've got nothing to do with this coup you're talking about. Octsana you know me better than that," said Maxie's mother.

"You will address me as major, sergeant! I don't wanna believe their's any truth to this and it's my duty to ensure anyone that tries to slander or even turn against Octavio's regime is punished. Their's no evidence to prove your in any kind of involvement but what of this plan I've been hearing about you two leaving the domes for the surface?" asked the major. "I have it from a reliable source that who two plan on escaping. That's considered desertion and is punishable by execution. Explain yourself," demanded the major leering at Maxie's mother.

The octoling looked down as her face darkened. "It's...true," she mumbled. "Why?" asked the major.

"We have a child now. I fear for the safety for her with the domes losing power. I don't wanna raise her down here. I just want me, my husband, and my daughter to start a new life. Please understand Octsana that I do this with the best interests for my daughter. Let us go and we'll never return," said Maxie's mother compassionately.

The major balled her up her fist and bit her lip. "I...can't let you do that sergeant. Lives are at stake and won't let anyone go to the surface. You've proven to me what a loyal soldier you've been but not anymore. After hearing what you said you've brought dishonor to not only yourself but me and the octarian army. I have no choice but to bring you to a military tribunal. You and your husband for deserting the octarian army, which falls under treason," said the major.

"Go and locate her husband, bring him back her to stand trial," ordered the major to the two octoling guards.

"yes, ma'am," they saluted as they left to arrest Maxie's father.

"Octsana! No! Please don't do this I beg you! Think about my daughter! Where will she be without her parents!?" exclaimed Maxie's mother as she started to cry.

"You should've thought about that before you and your husband decided to leave the dome. You've forced my hand. I will not put our friendship before my duty. If allow you to go then others will eventually follow and the future of Octo Valley is at stake," said Major Octsana as she turned away deeply disappointed.

"I did this for my daughter Maxie! I don't want her to grow up down here! I wanna better life for her and now you're willing to take her family away from her!" cried the octoling as tears ran down her face as she fell to the floor on her knees.

"I assure you that you're daughter will be taken care of. By the octarian army, let's just hope she becomes a better soldier than you," said Octsana.

The scenery like before faded to black with the echoing of her mother crying. Maxie clinched her fists as hard as she could and gave a scream before she broke down in tears to see the fate of her mother and father. "I...know now...why you never wanted to show me," jeered Maxie fighting back the tears. "DARN YOU OCTSANA! I'LL TAKE THIS TO MY GRAVE TO MAKE SURE YOU AND OCTAVIO PAY DEARLY FOR TAKING MY PARENTS OUT OF MY LIFE!" yelled Maxie. She soon felt a hand on her shoulder and saw her mother standing over with dread on her face. She picked Maxie up and hugged her. " I never wanted to show you...I was afraid you would burn with revenge. Do not go down this path my daughter. Let it go," said her mother. Maxie cried her on her shoulder before looking at the entity.

"To think...I looked up to her and even considered her family," jeered Maxie who was now filled with anger.

"What's done is done. Do not seek vengeance because you will not only kill her but yourself. Think about Octillia and think about Blake who has been there for you. Maxie stared at her mother and slowly nodded. "Please don't let me see you in the afterlife sooner than I should. I want you to better yourself and live the life I wanted you to live. I leave you in peace my daughter," said her mother as Maxie was enveloped in bright light. The octoling was back in the underground dome thinking about about the vision. She turned toward the direction Blake had went and knew she had to make amends with the human over her mother's wishes.

"Revenge or not. Octsana will brought to justice and answer for everything she and the rebels have done. Mark my words," said Maxie as she rushed toward the rebel stronghold.


	72. Arc 3 Chapter 23

**Arc 3 Chapter 23**

**NOTE: ****Sorry everyone for the wait on this chapter. I've had to completely redo it making it much larger than it was previously planned. Content was added while stuff was removed. I'm losing motivation but I'm not going to quit and I've been having a lot of writing blocks lately, The battle with Octavio will start in the next chapter. For those who've been impatient about the story, this Arc is slowly reaching it's end for all of you who are ready for it to close. I'm aiming at chapter 30 to be the last and final one before Arc 4 starts. Upcoming chapters will be larger than previous chapters due to me congesting the chapters together to hurry up and finish this arc. If you still have complaints I'll revise and try and improve, otherwise quit reading. Hope you enjoy.**

Hours before Octavio left Octo Canyon with the fleet Ben was eating in the mess hall of the Inkopolis Defense Force base. As he was finishing his food. He looked over and saw Flash standing against the wall near the exit. He was looking around and acting suspicious. He soon stood up and slowly walked out as Ben watched. "What's Flash up to?... But why should I care?" he said. "(groan) I better make sure he doesn't get in any trouble," he continued as he stood up from the table and put his tray away. He decided to trail Flash but kept a distance as to make sure the inkling didn't know he was being followed.

After a while of walking down the hallways of the base. Flash turned the corner of a hallway and headed toward a pair of doors. He walked inside with Ben around the corner watching him. He slowly crept over toward to the doors and opened them. Inside, Flash was no where insight in the large auditorium where IDF troops were given briefings. Ben walked into the center of the large chamber and scanned the room for any trace of Flash.

"Flash?" he called out queitly. "Where did he go? I know he walked in here," Ben said to himself. Ben continued to move up until a figure walked behind him and grabbed his shoulder. Ben jumped out of his skin and saw Flash right behind him. "Geez! Dude don't do that!" he shouted.

"Well, if you weren't following me! That wouldn't have happened. No one gets the drop on ole' Flash. But seriously why were you following me?!" demanded Flash with his arms crossed.

"Because it looked like you were up to no good. That's why. I know that look on your face when I saw you walk out of the mess hall, Flash," said Ben rasing an eyebrow.

"Guess we've been friends for that long, huh? But yeah...I'm ditching this place and heading over Jazz's crib," said Flash.

Ben shook his head to reconfirm what he heard Flash tell him. "Bro! Not cool! If your caught leaving the base and going AWOL, they'll lock you up and you an kiss those turf wars goodbye!" exclaimed Ben.

"Pfff... I ain't gonna get caught and I would suggest you be smart and join me. Dude, let's face it! We're not cut out for all this training crap let alone going to war. Let's face it we should be back at Jazz's chillin and playing video games. C'mon dude, you know it and I know it," said Flash.

"If my dad ever finds out. Getting caught and thrown in the stockades will be the least of my problems. I'm sorry but I got to go through with it and hey! This was your idea in the first place! You're the one that wanted to join the IDF to be a war hero for that Izzy chick and now you wanna leave! Predictable! When things don't go your way, you throw your hands up but not this time!" said Ben sternly.

"So what! You gonna report me! Your good ole' friend Flash?" said Flash.

"(sigh) No...but hear me out. If you leave they're gonna be looking for you and when the captain finds out. She's gonna stomp your squid butt into submission. The turf leagues will but nothing compared to facing her after she's done with you," said Ben. The two of them heard movement and the rustling of the curtains on the stage. Somwone was eavesdropping on their conversation and Flash knew who it could possibly be.

"(sigh) come out Kirk, we know you're know you're up there," said Flash.

A pink squid slowly swam from behind the curtains onto the stage before changing back. "He-he, Well this is a little awkward. I overheard what you guys were saying and I have to agree with Ben. If you go AWOL and sneek out of the base then you'll be in a world of hurt once Captain Finn finds out. I'd heed his warning," said Kirk.

"I don't care what you guys think. I'm squiddin' outta' here whether you like it or not. This place sucks and I'm not going out on the frontlines to get my tentacles blown off by some octo-broad or ugly tentacle. I don't know about you guys but I wanna keep all my tentacles. They don't call me Flash for nothing! I'll see you guys later! Good luck on..." said Flash as his shoulder was grabbed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but...(deep sigh) you're right for once in your life. I do miss Jazz and playing in the turf war games but... who wants to be a war hero anyway. Count me in. So what's your plan Flash...or dare I ask," said Ben.

"Huh? You guys that's a terrible idea...but if you insist, count me in too, I miss being at home with my family," said Kirk.

"Awesome dude! I knew you wanted to get out of here!" cheered Flash. "So much for being a boy scout," said Ben.

"OK, so what we do is... (mumbling)" said Flash as they were going over the plan to escape the base without getting caught.

Moments later when everyone headed back to the barracks. Flash, Ben, and Kirk quietly sneaked out and made their way to the main gate. Inkling guards were providing fire watch making sure no one was breaking curfew. The three squid formed and evaded any guards they came across until they were nearing the main gate. They saw that it was heavily guarded with searchlight towers. The wall around the base had electrodes on the top of it so if anyone squid jumped across they would jolted. Escape looked impossible for the three without getting the guards' attention.

"So what now? How are goin' to get outta here?" asked Ben.

"Crap! I don't know... I was hoping the main entrance wasn't guarded and I forgot about the eletrified wall," said Flash as he rubbed the back of his head.

"What!" exclaimed Ben as he face-palmed. "Flash this is an army base you inkhead! Of course they're goin' to guard the entrance. What did you think!? I should've known you'd blunder this up and now we're going to get caught for sure. I can't believe I went along with this," said Ben with annoyance.

"Hey! Don't get mad at me! I was just thinking..." started Flash as he was soon cut off.

"Thinking what! That we could just waltz out of here and you know what! We might as well play Off the Hook's album on the intercom system while we're at to provide a distraction! Then everyone can come out and party to the tune while we leave the base! How about you add that to your full proof plan!" exclaimed an agitated Ben.

After hearing what Ben had said, something popped in Kirk's mind of how to get past the guards. "That gives me an idea, You guys," said Kirk but he was ignored by the two squabbling inklings.

"I don't see you coming up with anything! Your dad's the brainiac of this place. Why don't you ask him if their's a way we can get out of this mess," exclaimed Flash also getting annoyed by Ben.

"You guys," said Kirk but he had no luck getting to the two.

"The mess you started!? And besides, you really think my dad is just help us leave the base. I don't know who I would rather deal with him or the captain if he ever found out I was trying to escape with you. Getting thrown in jail would be the least of my problems!" ranted Ben.

"YOU GUYS!" shouted Kirk as the two of them turned toward the inkling soldier.

"WHAT!" they shouted in unison.

"I got an idea," replied Kirk as he pulled out his squidphone. "Flash made me think about Off the Hook being a distraction, how about I place my squidphone sowmwhere the guards can hear it. Then once they try and find the source of the music we can rush out the gate. It could work," he continued.

"Wait a minute...you have a squidphone and didn't tell us. Aren't those prohibited?" said Ben as he shook his head.

"Umm...I uh...smuggled it," said Kirk. Flash and Ben look at each other then back at Kirk. "What! My family photos are on it! It's my only means of connection to them," replied Kirk.

"(deep breath) Oh, fine. We'll go with your plan then, I just hope you know what you're doing," said Ben. Kirk squid formed and swam toward a safe location out of sight and propped his phone on a bench. He scrolled through it until he found his playlist and cut on the song Ebb and Flow from off the hook. He returned to Flash and Ben once it started playing. The three watched as they saw one of the guards turn their head toward the source of music.

"Uh, where's that noise coming from?" the guard asked.

"It's coming from over there, let's check it out," pointed the other guard as he soon heard it too. The two headed off to investigate the source of the noise.

"It worked! They've taken the bait, now let's get out of here before they come back," said Ben as they ran toward the gate. Ben quickly jumped up and climbed up the gate until he hopped down on the other side.

"Oh squid, what about my phone?" said a worried Kirk.

"Seriously dude! Just leave it! Do you wanna get outta here or not!?" shouted Flash as he climbed the gate.

"What the! Is that Off the Hook? What's this doing here anyway?" exclaimed the guard as he picked up the phone, where the music was originating from.

"I'm not sure? Let's head back to the gate before we're caught off of our post," said the other as they took the phone and rushed back toward the gate.

"Alright Flash! C'mon! Those guards will be back any minute!" said Ben as Flash jumped down on the other side. "Kirk! Let's go!" shouted Flash as we waved at him but as Kirk started to climb the gate the guards spotted them.

"Hey!" one of them shouted.

"Stop right there!" shouted the other.

"Oh no! Kirk!" yelled Flash as the three of them were caught by the guards.

"You guys go on! I'll try and get their attention!" Kirk said as he ran off to lead the inkling guards away. Flash banged on the gate, tempting to chase after them but Ben grabbed him.

"Flash! Leave him! We gotta go before we're caught ourselves!" shouted Ben as the two of them squid formed and swam away from the gate.

"Get back here!" shouted the guard pursuing Kirk. The other ran up toward the gate. "We have two inklings that have just hopped the gate! Requesting back up to apprehend the two!" he shouted watching Flash and Ben escape.

"Oh carp! Let's squid outta here!" shouted Flash as the two of them finally made it out and headed toward the city.

Meantime, at Jazz's home. She and her new friend Suki were watching movies. It had been a long but enjoyable day for the two, catching up on their personal lives and talking about turf wars and fashion. That day they decided to head to the Arowana Mall to go shopping but the stores were closed except for a few places in the food court. The two ordered some lunch and were talking about what to do next since everything was nearly shut down due to the power shortage of the missing zapfish. "So what now? We can't go shopping or nothing," said Suki finishing her meal.

"I don't know...if Flash were here he would think of something," replied Jazz.

"That inkhead...what? talk about himself. Please...I don't see how you tolerate him," sneered Suki.

"I guess I've been around him enough that I just put up with him, he's not that bad," replied Jazz as she sipped on her ink soda.

"Sure...whatever you say but he's not here so...how about we go hang out at my place and then we go to yours," suggested Suki.

"I guess so...Hey! Is that new gear!?" said Jazz as she trailed off. She spotted something on a display case behind one of the store windows.

"Huh? What are you...hey," excalimed Suki as Jazz pulled her to go look at the new products.

"It is! That's the new Kensa gear I've been hearing about and their weapons. That's so cool," said Jazz in excitement.

"You have a...unique taste. I personally wouldn't be caught dead in that," said Suki not impressed with the clothing line.

"Well, I would... I like it, maybe once I save up enough money I can buy their clothing. Too bad the stores are closed anyway," said Jazz.

"Yeah it's a shame, now come on! Let's head to my place and find something to do!" said Suki as she dragged Jazz out of the mall.

They spent a couple of hours at Suki's. She introduced Jazz to her room where the inkling girl admired her gear and weapons. She was definetly a serious turf war player as the two trailed off to talking the matches they had played in and their experiences, especially with Jazz talking about Flash and his high jinks and mishaps. Overtime the two became close friends and would eventually leave for Jazz's later that evening before the curfew went into effect. They decided to have a sleepover to get their mind off things but as the night would progress the two would recieve an unexpected visit from two inklings they wouldn't expect to see so soon. Jazz headed into the kitchen as Suki stayed in the living room. A knock at the door would get her attention.

"I wonder who that could be at this time? Especially with the curfew in effect," said Suki. She approached the door and peeked out once she opened it and saw an unexpected sight. It was Flash and Ben standing outside the door. Flash and Suki went wided seeing one another but Flash after shaking his head seeing Suki he wondered why she was there "Huh? Hey! Wait a minute! What are doing here!? This is Jazz's house!" shouted Flash in both shock and irritation.

"She invited me to come over since you two inkheads ran off to join the army! What not cut out for the army life and ran away?" said Suki

"Just get out of the way! I wanna talk to Jazz and how about you just SQUID OFF!" shouted Flash as he pushed Suki out of the way as he walked in the house.

"At least I was here to support her while you two just worked her nerves wondering if she would ever see you idiots again," said Suki as Flash crossed his arms and shot her a glare.

"Flash!? Ben!?" shouted Jazz as she stepped back into the living room. "Flash! It is you! Ben!" she shouted seeing the two of them and rushed over to give them both a hug. "I wasn't sure when I would see you guys again!" she exclaimed after pulling off the two.

"Well, I guess you can say we went AWOL. I'm not sure how I'm going to explain things to dad once he finds out," said Ben.

"I'm just glad to be outta that place. So anything happen while we were gone? Besides her being over here! Care to explain!" demanded Flash wanting an explaination to why she was hanging with Suki.

"(sigh) Flash...look I... You guys left and I needed someone to talk to... She was nice enough to let me hang with her. You guys left me! And you had me worrying if we would get to see one another again!" exclaimed Jazz.

"Flash just chill. You can't blame Jazz and besides it's good that we can be friends for once. By the way Jazz. You gotta soda? I could use a drink," asked Ben.

"Sure, in the fridge," said Jazz as she pointed toward the kitchen.

"Thanks," he said as headed toward the fridge to grab a soda.

Flash and Suki looked at each other then whipped their heads away from one another with their arms crossed. It appeared the two of them wouldn't settle their differences as Jazz sighed in defeat.

"Well, how bout' we continue where we left and go watch another movie to ease the drama," suggested Jazz with a smile.

"I guess," they said in unison with a lack of euthuasium.

"Great! I'll heat up another bag of pop corn," said Jazz walking into the kitchen.

All four of them found a place to sit down as they watched the movie. Jazz sat in the middle of the couch with Flash on one side and Suki on the other, still bitter with one another. Ben leaned against the couch behnd Ben sipping his ink soda. Flash and SuKi fought over the popcorn as Jazz had to break them up. Ben was fighting to stay awake as he almost spilled his soda on Flash. As time went by the sound of rumbling caught their attention. "What's all that noise?" asked Jazz.

"I don't know, it's coming from outside," said Flash. Jazz, Suki, and Flash jumped off the couch with Ben jarring awake. He trailed the three wondering what was going on himself. They all opened the door and looked around. Jazz soon spotted an octozeppelin approaching from the direction of the octarians territory. "What is that!" she cried as she pointed at the massive airship.

"Is that the... octarians!?" shouted Flash.

"Oh carp! They must be here to attack the city! We gotta head back to base and inform eberyone!" shouted Ben.

"What! Take the chance of getting thrown in the stockades! I don't think so!" shouted back Flash.

"You got a better solution!? We gotta warn the IDF before it's too late!" protested Ben.

Soon as the octozeppelin got closer another flying object flew overhead toward the rebel airship. It was Sheldon's flying truck with Marie on top of it with an inkzooka. "Who is that!?" asked Suki seeing the squid sister agent riding the truck with the weapon. Marie fired the inkzooka at the octozeppelin but did little damage to the hull as it kept floating on its path. "She just shot at it! But it didn't make a scratch!" shouted Flash.

"I wonder who that could be!? She's got guts to try and take on the octarians like that!" shouted Ben.

Sheldon flew back around as Marie loaded the inkzooka again. "We gotta stop them Sheldon for the city's sake. Get ready to use that weapon of yours once we get in front of them again," shouted Marie.

"Got it! Just hang on!" Sheldon shouted back. He banked the truck back toward the octozeppelin and pressed the button for the turret to activate on the bottom of the truck. Instead of Tenta-missiles like from before. He equipped a stingray on it. He let the weapon charge up as they got closer to the hulking airship and pulled the trigger. Marie fired her inkzooka at the nose of the octozeppelin as Sheldon fired the stingray at the hull. The octozeppelin took more damage but was still floating and showing no signs of dropping. "Carp! Nothing's working! We're not doing enough damage on that thing!" shouted Marie in frustration.

"Marie! I already told you we can't do this by ourselves!" exclaimed Sheldon.

"Sheldon! I'm not getting anyone else killed! And who would wanna fight the octo rebels right now! The city is under a curfew and I'm shocked the IDF hasn't showed up," replied Marie.

"Well this isn't working like you said. We gotta head back to the shop and think of a plan," said Sheldon. Soon the truck was taking fire from an octocommander perched on top of the airship. Sheldon tried to evade but he took a hit once the octarians hit the rear thrusters of the truck. The truck descended down toward the ground. "Marie! Jump back in! I've lost control!" shouted Sheldon as the truck was diving closer to the ground. Marie was hanging on for dear life but as she was making her back to the cab. She lost her grip and squid jumped before she got knocked off the truck. Sheldon made a hard landing but survived with minimal damage on the vehicle and Marie propeled for a place to land. She made a hard landing herself but recovered and rushed to check on Sheldon. The gang of inklings watched the whole thing and were stunned. They decided to go to where Sheldon landed the truck and wonder who the two were that tried to stop the octozeppelin.

"Sheldon! Sheldon!" shouted Marie as she rushed to where Sheldon landed.

She spotted the truck with Sheldon hopping out as he brushed himself off. "Oh cod, I'm glad you got down in one piece. So what's the damage report?" she asked.

"Well...ole' betsy ain't flying no time soon, Not until I get the thrusters repaired but unfortunelty all my tools are back at the shop," said Sheldon.

"Great... (sigh) Now theirs no way of stopping them. We got a think of something," said Marie placing her hand under chin.

"Woah! Sheldon!?" shouted a voice that got the squid sister's attention. The two of them turned and saw four inklings staring at them. "Wait...that was you up there!?" asked a shocked Jazz.

"Huh...you kids shouldn't be out here! There's a curfew in effect!" iterated Marie who was stunned to see them there.

"You're Marie! Of the squid sisters! What are you doing here!?" asked Flash who was absolutely stunned to see Marie and that she was the one that attacked the octozeppelin. "I...uh...w...well you see?" stammered Marie looking for an explaination.

"Wait a minute, where's Callie and I thought you two had left Inkopolis to go back to the county...and why did you attack the octarians?" asked Ben.

Marie paused and saw no way of worming her way out of this unfortenate dilemma. Sheldon looked at Marie with uncertainty as she rubbed her arm and gave a deep sigh. "Well...I guess we better tell them since they're here," said Marie to Sheldon who rasised his arms in defeat. "Me and Cal...are agents of the squidbeak squad and our mission is to protect Inkopolis from all threats including the octarians," explained Marie to the group of awestruck inklings.

"Squidbeak Squad? I've never heard of them," said Jazz.

"That's so cool!...secret agents and pop stars!...it sounds like something out a movie!" exclaimed Flash with stars in his eyes.

"Yeah...care to explain becuase that does sound a little far fetched. I mean agents, really," replied Ben who at slight disbelief.

"Look... me and Sheldon can't stop them alone so we're are gonna need some help as much as I hate to admit it. I'll explain once we get back to Ammo Knights and then once we get there, you guys can gear up and help us. Are guys up for the task?" asked Marie.

"Shell yeah!" shouted Flash, fist pumping.

"Count me in!" shouted Ben.

"Sure why not," replied Jazz.

"No thank you," answered Suki with everyone pausing.

"Huh?" said Jazz.

"I'm not a soldier or an agent like she says she is, I say leave this up to the army. Do you serious belive a few squid can take on the octarians. Come on!... but if you wanna play heroes then be my guest. I'm going home before anything happens," said Suki with her arms crossed as she turned away from the group.

"Suki, please... we just started being friends and this is an opportunity for us to be a team and stop those octarians from hurting everyone," pleaded Jazz. Suki steadily ignored Jazz's words.

"Forget it, She's not coming. I say we go up their and kick some octo butt!" said Flash.

"But how if Sheldon's truck is down?" asked Ben.

"We'll head back to Sheldon's shop and think up a plan! Their's no time to waste so let's go! If she doesn't wanna come then let's not force her," said Marie as she lead the rest of the inklings and Sheldon back to the shop to prepare to fight the octo rebels before they started attacking. Jazz stopped and looked back to see if Suki changed her mind but she was still indifferent about the situation and downed her head in slight dissappointmnent that her friend was unwilling to chip in. It would be a little while before they would reach the square but will it be too late by the time they get there?

* * *

It had been tense situation between the three inklings. Trust was broken between Cassie and Cleo, admitting to keeping things away from the two unsuspecting inklings. Cleo stayed on one side of the subway car while Cassie and Cuttlefish stayed on the other. The three of them were nearing station B unsure what the next test would be. They didn't talk with one another since the altercation 10 minutes ago. Cleo was reading some text messages she received from Xavier. The octoling boyfriend who was secretly onboard the subway, who watched the inklings from the car in front of them.

"What is she doing? Surely she can't get any reception down here? Unless...it's Kamabo," said Cassie to herself. Suspicious of what Cleo was typing.

Cleo looked up and saw Cassie staring at her with her eye's narrowed. "What! You know its rude to stare don't you," said Cleo unpleasantly.

Cassie just rolled her eyes at Cleo's comment. "Sheesh...what's her problem?" said Cleo to herself. After a moment she stood and walked toward the front car.

"Hey! Where exactly are you going?" asked Cassie with discontent.

"Out! If you have to know. I don't appreciate getting stared at like I'm some kind of criminal. Besides I'm tired of sitting in the same car with two squids who think I'm one. You two made your choice to come down so if you'll excuse me," said Cleo before walking out into the next car and closing the door behind her.

"She's up to something, as normal. I wander who she's texting?" asked Cassie. She turned to see Cuttlefish had fallen asleep again. Cassie had a look of exasperation on her face and leaned back in her seat. "Oh, captain, how can you sleep in a time like this?" said Cassie as she gave a sigh.

Cleo continued through the next car until she saw Xavier leaned up against the wall. "Babe," he replied when he spotted Cleo.

"Xavier," she replied back as the two rushed into a hug and kiss. " I got your message, so have you heard anything out of Tartar?" asked Cleo.

"No, nothing yet but I'll be glad when done with this job and go to the promised land," said Xavier as he crossed his arms.

"You keep talking about this promised land but I don't doubt you. I just hope Tartar can hold his end of the bargain," said Cleo.

"He better... for our sakes. I hate being here, underground. Just brings back bad memories. I recognize that inkling anywhere. She's agent 3 of the squidbeak squad. She single handedly took down Octavio and killed many of our brethren. I'm having a had time trying to recompose myself with the situation we're in but it'll be worth it in the end," said Xavier.

"Xavier, just calm down. Focus on the task we were given and have some patience. Tartar will probably get a hold of us soon. Their's no sense in me playing babysitter for that squid if she's beating the test. Surely Tartar will approve and pull us off the job, plus she's getting suspicious and that worries me. We can't afford our cover getting blown and the task getting jeopardized," said Cleo. "That old geezer isn't helping matters," she continued.

"Well...I guess we wait until we hear from Tartar. We'll be arriving at the next station and I guess you better get back before those two get even more suspicious," said Xavier.

"Listen...just stay out of sight. I'll keep playing along with the two squids and you head back to the labs whenever you get the chance... I love you Xavier," said Cleo.

"(groan) fine but I love you too babe," said Xavier as the pulled into a kiss before Cleo headed back to the rear but what Cleo and Xavier didn't realize was Cassie was hugging the wall next to doorway in the other car, listening in on their conversation.

"So her octoling boyfriend is here too. Wonder what role he's playing in all of this? And what's this promised land? I want answers, I'm not waiting around for something to happen. Those two are going down!" said Cassie. She quickly clutched her weapon and opened the door. "So you weren't alone on this subway!" shouted Cassie aiming her weapon at the two of them. The two jumped in surprise not expecting Cassie to barge in. They then stared at Cassie with her hero shot aimed at them.

"Cassie!? W...W...what are you doing here!? Why did you..." stared Cleo but was soon interrupted.

"Don't play stupid! I'm going to be the one asking the questions! Now what's going on!? I won't leave here until you answer me!" demanded Cassie aiming the hero shot at Cleo.

"You best aim that thing somewhere else if you know what's good for you squid!" demanded Xavier.

"Feeling animosity? Yeah I'm agent 3 and don't think I won't let you join the rest of your fallen brethren octopus!" sneered Cassie as she turned the weapon on the octoling.

"Don't you dare make idle threats! There's two of us and only one of you so if I were you I would think about dropping your weapon and staying in the game. We're the only ones that can get you out of the metro alive," said Cleo as pulled her Splattershot pro on Cassie.

"You think I'm falling for that! You've been stringing me and Cuttlefish along since you were in the hospital. You wanted us to come down here...and I wanna know why! So start talking or so help me you better not miss because I won't. This ends Cleo I'm not playing this game of yours anymore. Now start talking! What are Kamabo's intentions? What do they want with me and Cuttlefish and what's this promised land I heard about?" shouted Cassie losing her patience with the two.

"(chuckling) You don't get it do you squid. If you even knew half of the knowledge I dug up in this place. Inkopolis wouldn't be the same and neither would the octarians for that matter. If anything my race should've found out a long time ago but that egotistical Octavio had to keep things in the dark. The octarian archives, the deep sea scrolls...have been nothing but lies! And I've discovered the truth and it's made me see things clearly," replied Xavier.

"What are going on about octopus? You're not making any sense! What do mean everything's been a lie?" asked Cassie.

"Cassie if you saw what we saw then your whole world would change. You just gotta trust us so lower your weapon and we won't harm you," said Cleo.

Cassie couldn't believe Cleo would try to reason with the situation. She couldn't make any sense of what the octoling was going on about but something was a miss and their was no way she would resolve her distrust of Cleo and especially the octoling. "No, I'm falling for any tricks! Why should I trust you or him for that matter. You've lied about everything since we came to this damn place! And now you expect me to forget everything and act as if things have changed becuase of this "truth". No thanks but the two of you are coming with me and these so called tests are coming to an end. So surrender peacefully because I'm not afraid to splat you into a puddle," said Cassie.

"Listen squid! This is bigger than any of us and it all has to do with that human. He's not what you think he is and if anything he could be Inkopolis's greatest threat and for my people as well. So you better here me out! You're a squidbeak agent and I thought you've sworn to protect the inklings at all cost and now you're greatest enemy has been right under our noses this whole time," said Xavier trying to reason with the agent.

"Don't lecture to me what I've sworn to do and leave Blake out of this! If anyone's the threat it's you two and this company! Now I won't ask again, surrender and drop your weapon!" demanded Cassie.

"Damn squid won't listen! ...Very well, have it your way," said Xavier as he held his hands up but in a split second he quickly grabbed something behind his back and tossed a small spherical object at the inkling agent. As soon as it stuck to her it shocked her.

"AAAAHHHH!" screamed Cassie as she was electrocuted by the 8-ball that was thrown at her by Xavier. She stumbled and fell to the floor. She tried to get up but it was no use. She looked up and saw the two hover over her. Xavier kneeled down over her head. "We gave you the easy way out but you chose the hard way squid," sneered Xavier.

"I'm sorry it's come to this, Cassie," said Cleo before Cassie finally blacked out.

"She'll finish these tests one way or another," said Xavier as he stood up.

"So what now?" asked Cleo looking down at Cassie's body.

"Like I said... she's going to finish the test, now let's get her into the station, since we've arrived," said Xavier as the two heard the subway intercom announce the arrival of Station B.

During this time, Cuttlefish was starting to worry about Cassie. She had told him prior that she was going to follow Cleo and see what she was really up to. 10 minutes had passed and the subway was slowing down for the next station. "Where is the lass? Surely she'd be back by now. The subway is starting to stop and she needs to start the next test," said Cuttlefish.

He hopped off the bench and headed toward the doorway to wait for Cassie but as the subway doors slid open. The phone from before stood outside the entry, startling Cuttlefish as he stumbled back. He yelped and flailed his cane before staring back at the phone. "What the... it's...the phone from before? How did it get here? Something's mighty fishy about this," said Cuttlefish as he stepped out and poked the phone with his cane. "Hmm..." he replied stroking his beard. Soon the phone was ringing causing Cuttlefish to jerk.

"Who would be calling at a time like this?" asked Cuttlefish as he was hesitant about answering the call. He picked up the speaker and answered it. "Hello?" he asked. Nobody replied as he placed the talk piece back on the phone. After a moment the phone rang again. Cuttlefish turned and grabbed the talk piece again. "Hello, who is this?" he asked more sternly. Still no one answered back. Cuttlefish was getting annoyed and placed the talk piece back on the phone again. After several seconds the phone rang again but this time Cuttlefish growled and covered his ears deciding to ignore the call. After several seconds the ringing was becoming persistent and Cuttlefish turned to the phone with a glare.

"Listen here you wiffle-waffle! I'm getting tired of this! You got me trippin' in my sneaks, yo!" shouted Cuttlefish as stormed toward the phone and grabbed the talk piece. "Whoever's calling is getting on my last tentacle! Now who is this or stop calling!" Shouted Cuttlefish. After a few seconds a static-like voice finally came through. "Translation complete, non-human specimen detected. Error! Reassessment begin, specimen is cephalopod based, correction! cephalopod DNA found along with... BBBZZZTTT! ERROR! ERROR! Invalid! Running diagnostics...Errors not found. Invalid data on cephalopod based specimen. Data also detects human DNA. System error not found. System rebooting," said the static voice that appeared robotic as well.

"What the shrimp? Who's talking all that gibberish?" said Cuttlefish as he dropped the talk piece. The voice disappeared as Cuttlefish stared at the phone but as he did he didn't notice that the phone was leaning towards him as it fell right on top of Cuttlefish as he yelled before getting knocked out and dropping his cane. Things became quiet as the phone was laying on top of an unconscious Cuttlefish on the boarding platform. It appeared both inklings, Cassie and now Cuttlefish were powerless and their fates sit at the rest of the mysterious kamabo company. What will happen now?

* * *

Blake was laying on top of the octostamp DX tank as the armored rebel convoy made it to the Cephalon HQ. Blake was deep in regret over his outburst with Maxie and losing not just an ally but a friend, a friend that had deep feelings for him that like him lost her family. The convoy was coming up on the main gate of the base that was heavily guarded with towers and armored walls. Blake felt the tank stop behind the convoy and hopped off before any of the octosnipers on the towers spotted him on top of the tank. He huddled down and crept toward the front of the convoy until he spotted an approaching octoling. He quickly crawled under one of the octostamp DXs to avoid her and waited for the rebel to pass before coming out and running behind one of the guard booths before we was spotted. The convoy was permitted to go in after everything was cleared and Blake ran toward the closest building as an octostriker flew over head and almost saw him.

"That was close. I don't know how I'm going to get past all these rebels without getting spotted," said Blake as he continued on. Hugging the wall of the building and peeking around the corner. He spotted the command center but between him and there was a large courtyard filled with octarian rebels. There would be no way to get past them. "Think Blake, what I can I do?" he pondered. He heard footsteps approaching and hugged the wall on the corner of the building. He peeked around and saw two octolings patrolling then decided to stop between him and the next building.

He waited for them to move on and then a third octoling appeared who joined the chatter among the first two. After a minute the first two left and continued patrolling but the third stayed back and pulled a flask out of her pack and took a swig, making sure no one else was around. She gave a hiccup and blushed. "Guess miss tipsy isn't going to leave. I gotta keep moving before another patrol appears," said Blake.

He then had a plan and decided to creep behind the buzzed rebel and then grabbed her. She yelped and Blake covered her mouth to keep her screaming and breathing. She struggled as Blake dragged back around the building until she finally went unconsciense. He laid her down out of sight and grabbed her octo shot. "I might as well grab her weapon sense I lost mine...again, Sheldon's going to be pissed," he said. Leaving the octolings body behind, he checked the corner to make the coast was clear and rushed to the other side of the opening. He hugged another building and saw that he was beginning to run into a dead until he spotted a manhole cover on the ground at the corner of the tall wall.

"Looks like that's my only option to get inside...hopefully. Not looking forward to this," said Blake as she slowly slide the manhole cover before anyone walked by. He climbed down once he got it opened and slowly shut it over his head. An octoling stepped by and heard the manhole close. "Hmm..." she replied as she looked but just shrugged and carried on her business.

The tunnel was pitch black as Blake couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He felt around for the tunnel walls and guided himself down the dark tube. "As much as I've been down dark tunnels I would get in the habit of carrying around a flashlight. At least it doesn't stink down here," said Blake as he felt his way down the tunnel wall. After a minute he spotted a light source at the end and continued on until he jumped down into what appeared to be a maintenance room, illuminated by a red light.

"So far, so good. Now to head upstairs without getting caught," said Blake as he spotted a staircase going up. As he continued, steam shot in front of his face from a near by pipe. He turned and looked to see a valve pop out of it's socket and strike Blake in the face knocking his headset off. "Son a..." jeered Blake as he rubbed his face. "They really need to get a plumber down here!" he said with irritation. He traversed up the stairs and slowly turned the knob of the door at the top. He peeked through and didn't see a soul in sight.

He had finally made it inside the outpost but their weren't any places to hide as the hallways seemed to not provide any refuge. "I'm gonna get caught if I'm not too careful since I can't hide," said Blake. He spotted a vent in the ceiling above his head and decided to jump up and get inside the duct work. He crawled through the ventilation system above the hallway until the sound of talking got his attention. He slowly crept forward and spotted two octolings talking below the vent in the hallway.

"I can't wait to get topside once Inkopolis is under our control. Maybe I can get out of this uniform and wear that fresh clothing the squids wear, heck maybe I'll find an inkling boyfriend while I'm at it," said one octoling.

"In your dreams corporal! So you might as well get the stars out of your eyes! This isn't some vacation for your fantasies. To think you wanna hook up with one of those inkstains!" exclaimed the second octoling with disgust.

"What's wrong with enjoying myself while we take control of the city. With the inklings under Octavio's influence with the help of that squid sister, I would have no problem reeling in a catch for myself. Those inkling boys are kinda cute you gotta admit," said the corporal as she was drifting on cloud nine. She was quickly snapped back in reality with a blow on the side of the head from the other octoling. "OWW! What was that for!?" shouted the corporal as she rubbed the side of her head.

"Quit fantasizing and start acting like a soldier! We've got work to do and we're not done once we've got the city and those squid under our reins. With the hypnowave emitters in place. Octavio and that inkling pop star will start their show and the emitters will transmit a hypnotic wave disguised in the music to woo those inkstains under our influence. Once they're in control we'll use them to attack those traitors at Octo valley. Ironic that once we storm the valley with the inkstains leading the charge, those turncoats will have no choice but to surrender to the inklings they've desperately wanted to establish a truce with or defend themselves, knowing the squids are under our influence. Talk about turning the tables on those traitors, putting them in such a moral dilemma," sneered the second octoling.

"Sorta like holding those inklings hostage but this time instead of them being held at gun point it'll be those valley traitors, how devious our ruler is to cook up such a plan. Victory is assured and we'll rule the surface!" shouted the corporal.

"Not if I have any say in the matter, I gotta find a way to warn Marie and Sheldon before it's too late," Blake said quietly. The two octolings walked away with Blake continuing down the duct until he deemed it safe to come out. "Theirs gotta be a communications hub in this place but I'm sure it's well guarded. I'll think of way but for now I gotta focus on warning everyone before Octavio leaves with the octozeppelin fleet...after I try and find Callie...I just hope she's alright," said Blake as he crawled down the duct work.

Meanwhile, Izzy, Indigo, and Luna were riding the industrial Squee-G to the rebel base down the tunnel. "So this is it! Once we sneak inside we find and secure the great zapfish...if we can get past all the rebels and I'm sure security is going to be tight, so stay sharp and don't let your guard down," said Indigo.

"What should we expect if for some reason we do get caught. What's our odds at surviving?" asked Luna.

"I would guess very slim if any. I haven't been tracking their chatter on the network since we returned to the village. They got smart and started placing firewalls up and I've tried to get past them but it was a no go. I say staying stealthy is out best option right now but I feel they're up to something since the Neo-Octarians took down their fleet. I expect some kind of retaliatory strike or another attempt to attack Inkopolis," explained Indigo.

"You don't think they would try and attack the city again would you?" asked Izzy with concern.

"I hope not but I wouldn't put it past them," replied Indigo

"So what's the game plan, Indigo?" asked Luna.

"The outpost on top is just the upper section of the main base. Celphalon HQ is comprised of different levels that go down further in the dome, it was intented to be our impenetrable and advance base of operations ever constructed before Octavio was captured by the agent 2 years ago. We'll have to make our way down without getting spotted because once we do they'll lockdown our only access to the main facility, the elevators. After that they'll being coming out of the woodworks and we can kiss our plan goodbye. If all else fails then we'll improvise if we can survive that long," said Indigo.

Izzy was nervous and starting to rethink their plan but it was too late as they were nearing the main gate. "Um, one question. How the shell are we supposed to be sneaky with us riding on this pile of junk!?" asked Luna in irritation.

Indigo face palmed as she realized their was no way to stop or control the giant metal fish. "So much for stealth, Screw it! plan B!" shouted Indigo as the two octosnipers on the guard towers had their attention gotten. Luna and Indigo picked off the octarians before they could shoot them on the fish as it approached the gate. The octoling guards on the ground panicked seeing the giant robot and retreated before sounding the alarm. "Well, they know we're here! Sneaking past them is out of the question!" exclaimed Indigo.

"No shit! And here I was thinking it would be a walk in the park!" sneered Luna sarcastically. Indigo shot her a glare. "Sorry, I guess the drill sergeant in me is coming out," she said apologetically before turning toward a crowd of rebels shooting at them and the fish.

"This giant metal guppy can come in handy after all. It can do all the work sucking up those inkheads and provide a distraction while we head up toward the elevators, on my count, jump off and splat your way to the command station...1...2...3...!" shouted Indigo as the three jumped off the industrial squee-g. They watched the robot run over some of the rebels as the rest of them fled out of its path. Indigo and Luna rushed toward the command station with Izzy trailing but were impeded by more octolings and octotroopers. Indigo provided suppressing fire as her and Luna took cover. Izzy squid formed and swam toward Luna's position.

"Crap! What now!" shouted Luna.

"I'll provide covering fire to get their attention, then take your charger and pick them off!" commanded Indigo. "Izzy! You make your way inside and me and Luna will try and hold them off! It'll be up to once you reach the elevators! Good luck!" shouted the octoling.

"What! I won't leave you guys behind! I can't do this on my own!" said Izzy fretting over Indigo's decision.

"This isn't up for debate squid! You will continue the mission!" shouted Indigo sternly before turning the corner and shooting the rebels. Luna was given a window to splat two of the octoling rebels as the rest dove for cover. "2 down 2 to go! We best hurry before anymore show up! I don't how much battery life is left on that hunk of junk!" shouted Luna.

"Listen to me! I'm not leaving you! We do this as a team like our turf wars back in Inkopolis! Flash might have not been there for me but I'm here for you guys! You saved me back in that dome and welcomed me in your village with open arms! You're my friends and friends stick together thick and thin!" protested Izzy.

Both Indigo and Luna saw through the inkling and saw how sincere she was even though they were octolings. They understood her reasoning and wouldn't force her to press on ahead knowing the uncertainties if the two of them would survive long enough for Izzy to reach the lower levels of the rebel base. They both nodded and shot Izzy shot a smile. "Well friend, what do you got in mind?" asked Indigo before turning the corner and shooting toward the 2 remaining octoling rebels. When they returned fire, Luna splatted the both of them allowing the way clear but a group of octolings appeared behind them the three of them as they rushed for new cover.

"They're relentless I'll give em' that. They won't let us go without a fight!" shouted Indigo.

"So what's your strategy teammate?" asked Luna turning toward Izzy.

"Like I said, we do this as a team!" shouted Izzy as she rolled out of cover and shot at some of the octolings into yellow puddles. Izzy squid formed and dove into the ink to refill as Luna and Indigo charged behind her in their octopus forms. The three of them shot at what rebels stepped in front of them. Izzy and Indigo took turns taking down any rebels that opposed them while covering fire for Luna and her charger. Luna took pop shots at octosnipers perched on towers and rooftops while Izzy took down enemies on the ground and Indigo shot down air targets such as octocopters that approached them. The rebels were on the ropes as the Industrial Squee-G was sucking up octarians that ran in front of it.

"Keep it up! They're faltering!" shouted Indigo.

A shadow appeared under Indigo as she looked up and saw an octobomber over her. Izzy shot it down before it dropped a bomb on the octoling.

"Nice shot!" shouted Indigo as Izzy grinned.

Luna splatted the last octosniper on top of the rooftop of the outpost. "All right move up!" shouted Indigo as she waved them to push forward. As they ran toward the outpost entrance a large hatch opened up on the ground in front of them. "Woah! What's happening!?" asked a frantic Izzy.

A large bowling alley station appeared out the hatch. Flashing lights came on followed by a loud ringing. Then soon saw a giant purple bowling ball roll out of the station. On top of it was a little glass dome housing a twintacle. "What is that!?" shouted Izzy.

"I don't know! Some kind of new octo vehicle!?" answered Indigo.

The twintacle stared angrily at the group and the ball started rolling toward them. "Oh carp! Get out of it's way!" shouted Luna as the three of them changed forms. The Kingpin Octo Baller chased after Izzy, being she was an inkling. The octarian proved how fast it was as it was gaining on Izzy even in her squid form. She swam in front of the industrial squee-G hoping that the big metal fish might slow it down but the octo baller just rammed it causing the metal fish to flip over and tumble on the ground followed by an explosion of ink.

"Oh no! The industrial squee-G didn't stop it! I'm going to get squished!" shouted Izzy.

"Izzy! Hang on! We're coming!" shouted Indigo as she and Luna rushed over to figure a way of slowing down the octo baller. The two of them shot at the octo baller as Izzy swam by them. All shots were futile and the octolings octo formed our of the octarian's path. "Nothing's stopping that thing!" shouted Indigo. "We gotta think of something or Izzy is going to get flattened!" exclaimed Luna. Then the two heard a noise come from up on the roof of the command center and saw two octocommanders pop out and aim their splatlings at the two octolings.

"Octocommanders! Get to cover!" shouted Indigo.

Luna and Indigo rushed to the closest cover as the octocommanders launched a barrage of ink at their positions. They we're now gunned down and unable to help Izzy. The inkling agent then turned out of the octo baller's path and down a collection of buildings to try and lose the twintacle driving the giant ball. Izzy hugged against a building as the octo baller rolled past her. "I can't outrun that thing. I gotta think of a different strategy," said Izzy as she panted. Her squidwatch came on with a ball shaped emblem on it. "My special activated! About time but what's a baller?" asked Izzy. "Well I hope it helps me out!" she shouted smacking the watch. Izzy found herself inside a giant hamster ball with bands around it.

"What is this!?" exclaimed Izzy as she looked around. She moved forward as the ball did leaving an ink path behind her. She rolled out into the open and spotted the octo baller as it spotted her. It charged at her as she yelped. She rolled away as the octo baller chased after her. She looked back and then noticed that the giant bowling ball was slowing down in Izzy's yellow ink. "Hey my ink is slowing it down!" exclaimed Izzy. Izzy didn't pay attention and was heading straight for a building. Instead of crashing into it the ball she was in rolled up the wall and onto the roof. Izzy covered her eyes fearing the impact but to her dismay she saw a different outcome but the octo baller crashed into the building, causing Izzy to bounce off and fall back on the ground below.

The octarian's head was swaying, dazed from the impact. It shook it's head and set it's sight back on Izzy. Meanwhile Luna and Indigo were trying to splat the two octocommanders but had no luck. Indigo knew that rebel reinforcements were on the way and she had to make an ultimatum. She clutched her octoshot and turned to Luna.

"Luna!" shouted Indigo as her partner turned to her.

"I just wanna say...that you've been my best friend and the best partner I could ever ask for, if you make it out of here and head back to the village. Let everyone know it's been an honor serving and saving all the octarians that wanted to find a new and better life in this miserable place. Tell... Marina that I'm sorry we won't get to meet each other again," said Indigo.

"Indigo...what are you saying. We're both goin' to make it out of here," said a worrying Luna.

"We were both soldiers Luna but soldiers make sacrifices...and I'm willing to put my life on the line to ensure Octavio and the rebels are stopped at all cost and that peace can finally be established among the inklings and octarians...this is...goodbye Luna, I'll miss all of you," said Indigo.

"Indigo wait! Don't..." she shouted but it was too late. Indigo jumped out in the open and sprayed one of the octocommanders with her octo shot. "For the octo-outcasts!" she shouted before being splattered by the barrage of ink from the second octocommander. Time slowed down as Luna witnessed her friend get slain by the octarian. Her eyes widened as she saw Indigo's octo shot slowly land on the ground beside the purple puddle she was reduced to. Tears ran down her face and she screamed: "INDIGOOOO!" She rose out of cover and shot the remaining octocommader off his perch and splatter.

Izzy was outrunning the octo baller as the ink from her special was slowing it down. "Wait...I remember Sheldon going over all the different specials back in his shop. I remember him saying the baller can explode like a splat bomb, maybe I can do the same to the giant bowling ball," said Izzy. Soon the octo baller rolled to a walking pace until it got stuck in her ink. "Alright now it's time to see if this works," said Izzy. She rolled back toward the octo baller as the thing beeped more and more rapidly until she collided with the octarian causing a big burst of yellow ink to cover much of the giant bowling ball along with the glass hatch the octarian was in. The baller disappeared and Izzy watched that the octarian weapon was still intact. The twintacle couldn't see due to ink covering it's hatch. It popped it off so it see but left itself vulnarable. "Wretched inkstain" it popped off before realizing it was unprotected. Izzy gave a grin and the octarian gulped. "Uh-oh...can we talk about this?" it asked. Izzy jumped in the air and splatted the twintacle.

It was finally over until she spotted Luna on her knees crying over Indigo's puddle as she held the octo shot. Izzy rushed over to see what was going on. "Luna!... Wait, where's Indigo?" she asked her.

"Indigo's...gone," said Luna before she started crying.

"Gone? What do you mean..." started Izzy as she stared at the purple puddle, it then clicked in that Indigo was dead. "No...Indigo!" shouted Izzy. "My cod, Luna...I'm so sorry," said Izzy as she started to sob over the octoling that she considered a friend.

"Indigo why did you have to go get yourself killed!" shouted Luna in tears. Izzy hugged Luna for comfort and after the two pulled off, Luna wiped her eyes. "Izzy...promise me...that you'll stop Octavio. Don't let Indigo's sacrifice go in vain. Make sure Octavio is brought to justice and that peace can be reestablished among our races," said Luna. Izzy helped her up as she looked at the octo shot. "She was not only a friend...but a sister too. She watched over us in the gypsy village and now that she's gone. Everyone will be heartbroken...please Izzy, make this right," pleaded Luna.

"I...will Luna. I'll make sure that Octavio is stopped and that no else will get killed. She...was my friend too and I'm going to miss her. She felt what she did was right and I'll be sure that her sacrifice wasn't wasted," said Izzy as she placed her hand on Luna's shoulder. Luna rushed in for a hug on the inkling girl. "Promise me you'll stay alive and not die like Indigo did. Promise you'll come and visit us back in the village," demanded Luna.

"I will and then maybe you'll come and see me in Inkopolis," said Izzy.

"(sniffle) yeah...I would like that," said Luna. They pulled off and Luna carried Indigo's octo shot as she walked away. "Be careful Izzy and good luck!" shouted Luna. Izzy nodded and headed inside the outpost to gain access to the lower levels and stop the rebels before the reinforcements showed up.

* * *

"Ruby..." called a voice that echoed through a dark void. "Ruby..." it called yet again and after a moment it yelled "RUBY!" as a figure jolted awake giving a deep breath. She was bleeding from her mouth with bruises on her face. She turned to a figure beside her after they shook her awake. "Ruby! Oh thank god you're still breathing. I feared we were too late. Don't worry we'll get you outta here. Opal's going to pay for this, her and those rebels," sneered Lieutenant Octillia.

"(cough) Octillia...I'm fine (cough) really, right now you have to catch up with opal and the rebels before they reach the vault," said Ruby trying to get her words

"I will but my priority right now is to get back to the base for medical attention. Did you out anything at Otto's apartment? You mentioned before about a case," asked the lieutenant.

"Yes...Otto had a strange case hidden in his apartment with a logo on it. The same logo found on those ID cards with the human fossils...and the one on the vault doors. Octillia...you have to stop them...I think...Otto is innocent, I think he's being forced to assist the rebels. I'm not sure why he would've hidden that case unless..." said Ruby fighting to keep her strength.

"Unless what Ruby?" asked the lieutenant.

"He didn't want Opal discovering it if he brought to the lab. He was trying to hide from the rebels and I'm the one who found it for...oh I'm such an idiot," said Ruby as she smacked her self.

"No your not! You couldn't have known, none of us did. Right now we'll deal with them soon and you need to get back to the base. The medics will transport you back and I'll get a team together to pursue those octopi before they find a way to get in that place," said Octillia.

Ruby was carried away on a stretcher and placed inside an octostamp DX to be taken back to medical facility. Lieutenant Octillia turned and looked at the crash, she clenched her fist knowing that Ruby could've been killed. She was getting tired of the rebels attacks and now Opal had changed sides with vauable assets in her possession that could help their cause and further their efforts to bring about war among the two races. "Octsana...you're not the sister I grew up with since we were hatchlings. You keep resisting and move farther and farther apart from me. Why not set aside this strife and see Octavio for what he is...a tyrant. It's as if you're a stranger now and a have a job to do. Family or not...you will be brought to justice," said Octillia after giving a deep sigh.

"Lieutenant...we're ready to head out," said an octoling male that approached her. Octillia turned toward the soldier and gave a nod. "Alright, everyone mount up and prepare to return to base," said the lieutenant. The octoling ran back to octostamp DX with the remaining octolings providing security around the wreck site following suit and loading back up on the rest of the octostamp DXs. Octillia stepped aboard her octoseeker and the convoy left for the Neo-Octarian base. Onbaord the octoseeker that was hovering over the convoy; the lieutenant was troubled by Ruby's mishap. She felt she could've done more stop the rebels and being her sister the major was their field commander, her emotions were at a conflict between blood and duty. She was still worrying about Maxie and feared that maybe her and the recon were in fact KIA. Yet another casulty at the hands of the rebels and her sister.

"Lieutenant?" said a voice across from her. One octoling was looking at her with concern, seeing that something was bothering her. "You seem troubled, you know what happened to Ruby is not your fault if anything she's fortunate to have called you. I'll be glad when the rebels are dealt with once and for all," said the octoling. "I don't see why general scarlet can't just plan a bombing campaign on the whole damn canyon, then maybe those rebels will get the message," she continued.

"Because sergeant-major, we're talking about wiping out our own people, would that make us no better than them. The strategy is to send in recon teams throughout the canyon when called to and hender any of their operations. I wanna stop the rebels too but we have to also be subtle about this, that's what the general wants as well as the empress. To change the hearts and minds of any octolings that side up with their cause and alliance to Octavio. One rebel defecting is another step to victory and I would prefer as well as our government to not escalate the conflict into a full blown civil war. A civil war will discourage peace among the inklings if they think any of the octarians still show hostility," said the lieutenant.

"I think its a sign of weakness if you ask me lieuteanant. The rebel's tactics will only worsen, they were bold enough to raid the lab and now they've attacked one our researchers and made off with possibly important material. Material that could set us back on the war effort against these terrorists," argued the sergeant-major.

"I won't argue but right now my concern is getting Ruby back and gathering up a team to track Opal and that case. If they are en route to the vault then we have to come up with a plan to stop them," said the lieutenant.

"What, send a recon team to see what their going to plan next?" replied the sergeant-major sarcastically.

"No...I'm going to send in the argonauts, our commando unit to deal with them. I'm not taking any chance of them getting inside the vault. How I see it, the vault is on our side of the border and if they are occupying the area then I consider it an act of aggression on our territory," said the lieutenant.

"About time you sent some serious firepower to deal with those rebels. No offense to Maxie and her team since we haven't heard from them," commented the sergeant-major.

The lieutenant downed her head over Maxie's disappearance. "Yeah...Maxie," she mumbled.

"I'm sure she's ok, that sergeant can hold her own but I heard that perv was assigned her team too. Hope he didn't screw things up for the mission," sneered the octoling.

"Let's get off this topic and focus on the vault. Like I said, I'll be deploying the argonauts and I'm sure captain Kova will be thrilled to hear it," said the lieutenant.

"She's so stuck on herself. Maxie can't stand her since they're boot camp rivals, she was her squad leader and made sure the sergeant was ridiculed at ever chance she got but Maxie put her in place a couple of times," said the sergeant-major.

"It's something to overlook, none the less she and the argonauts are more than qualified for the mission. Let's hope the captain doesn't let her ego get the best of her. Like Maxie I get sick and tired of it myself," said the lieutenant as they were approaching the base. The convoy stopped and Ruby was unloaded and carried to the medical facility. The octoseeker landed on the roof with lieutenant Octillia and the rest of the octolings dismounted and heading inside their headquarters.

10 minutes later Octillia was inside the command center going over the vault mission with her staff. Soon the door opened and in walked Captain Kova of the argonauts. She donned the solid black uniform and armor of the commando unit. While they also wore a black helmet with NV googles attached to them, she chose not to wear it. "If it ain't miss head up her ass," mumbled an octoling.

"I heard that! How about a boot up your ass!" sneered the captain.

"Enough! Let's get down to business, as I'm sure you've been notified about the situation captain. You and your team are being deployed to the vault. We haven't heard anything about the area but we assume that's its being possibly occupied by the rebels," iterated the lieutenant.

Kova leaned against the doorway and flipped her knife back in forth. "Pfff...yes...I'm well aware about the situation. I have ears all over this base and I'm also aware of the missing sergeant...well, possibly KIA. That's a shame. I'll be more than willing to go on a search mission to find her, if she's still alive that is," said captain Kova with insincerity.

"Stow it captain! Right now I'm concerned about the vault. Maxie is a different subject and she's a more disciplined soldier than you'll ever be!" shouted the lieutenant. The captain stood up and holstered her knife.

"I know you're both friends but let's get real...she's a short fuse. She can't always handle herself but hey! She could still be alive... taken captive by the rebels probably. I'll get my squad ready for the mission," said the captain as she walked out.

"She's a piece of work," said one octoling.

"That's putting it mildly. Gotta tolerate her though," said Octillia.

"Not to bring up Maxie but did you wanna send a team to find her?" asked another octoling.

"I have a feeling that Maxie is still alive, call it a intution but I'll make a decision soon about whether I should send a search party or not. I'm leaving to go check on Ruby. I think she'll enjoy the company," said the lieutenant.

Octillia made her way to the medical facility to see an agrivated nurse walk out of the ER. "Their you are Lieutenant, maybe you talk some sense into her," said the male nurse.

"Huh? What's the problem?" asked Octillia.

"She refused to stay and rest. She's more stubborn than you were. You can deal with her since she kept hounding about talking to you about a case and some vial," said the nurse as he left.

The elite walked in and saw Ruby sitting on the edge of the bed with an IV stuck in her arm. "By what the nurse was saying you're already feeling better," she said.

"Oh, Octillia there you are...but yes I'm fine. I was wanting to talk to you," said Ruby.

"So I heard as you were giving the nurse a hard time," said Octillia as she crossed her arms and leaned on the door frame.

"I told them that I was ok and that I just want to return to the lab, by the way. You got a drink...I know you carry around that flask, especially how things have been going lately," said Ruby.

"(sigh) You know me too well, yeah...here ya go," said Octillia as she walked up and handed Ruby the flask. Ruby chugged on the flask with Octillia raising an eyebrow.

"So what did you need to talk to me about?" she asked.

"Oh right, the case that Opal took we found in Otto's apartment. It was unlocked and inside were some documents in human language, also inside it was a vial containing some kind of greenish liquid," said Ruby as she laid the flask down.

"Greenish liquid?" replied the elite.

"I'm not sure either. We were supposed to bring it back to the lab for examination. I'm not sure what the rebels want with it but Otto can read human language...well kind off or at least some words and phrases anyway. I assume that's why they needed him," iterated Ruby.

"What's the case got to do with the vault? I mean besides the case apparently belonging to a human and the vault being constructed by humans long ago. What are we missing?" asked the lieutenant.

"I'm not sure, Otto may know. There was a picture of human inside the case. he was wearing a lab coat. I assume he must've been a scientist or something," answered Ruby.

"We won't know until those rebels are stopped and Otto is returned. I've sent the argonauts to the vault. Let's hope that inkhead survives when the ink starts flying," said Octillia as she crossed her arms.

"Wait you sent Kova and her squad to the vault. Octillia we need Otto alive! Those squirters are just shoot at anything that moves and they'll think Otto sided up with the rebels," said Ruby as she fretted over what she had just heard.

"I can assure you that no harm will come to your researcher. I'll inform Kova and her squad before they get there, don't worry," reasoned Octillia.

"Can you guarantee that?" asked Ruby raising an eyebrow with a critical expression. She picked up the flask again and took another drink.

"You have my word Ruby and give me back my flask before you drink it all," said Octillia as she put her hand out.

"Sorry, I think you're rubbing off on me," said Ruby who handed back the flask.

"Well I hate to say this but you need to at least get some rest... but I won't force the issue," said Octillia as Ruby shot her a glare and crossed her arms.

"You're such a hypocrite...but very well, a little nap then I'm going back to the lab," said Ruby as she laid down with hands under her head.

"Guess I'll let you get some rest, I'm going to head back to the command center. I'll inform Kova about the situation with Otto and hopefully she'll bring him back in one piece," said the lieutenant as she walked out.

When Octillia made it back to the command center she plopped down on a chair and just wanted to relax but after a few minutes a transmission had come in from Octopolis. An octoling wearing a red captain's cap with a gold octopus pinned on it appeared on the screen. "Lieutenant Octillia," she said as the elite turned to see the familiar face. She quickly got up and gave a salute. "General Scarlet," she replied.

"At ease lieutenant, I wanna report. I've rumors floating around about some of our men defecting to the rebels and something about a stolen case. I want some answers," demanded the general.

"(sigh) They're not rumors. We have one researcher that took data from the labs and also freed one of the rebels we had captive for interrogation. We think he's at the vault right now aiding the rebels in their efforts to get inside the vault but he's not alone as recently another researcher had been reported to defect and stole a metal case that could prove vital for the rebel's operations. I've dispatched the commandos to deal with them and retrieve the researcher that took the data from the lab. Captain Kova will ensure that the rebels are stopped and don't make it inside the vault," said Octillia.

"Lieutenant! You've ensured me on too many things, such as letting the human go with the inklings, a recon team is missing in the canyon somewhere, and now two researchers have changed sides by what you've told me. These..."mishaps" will not be tolerated anymore. Is that clear lieutenant or should I demote you and have someone take your place...such as captain Kova," said an agitated General Scarlet.

"N...No General, I can en... (pause) There will be no more mishaps," said Octillia at attention.

"See that their isn't. Your on thin ink and what about the Red Queen? Have you got any intel on her identity and her whereabouts?" asked the general.

"Not yet ma'am but my team is working on it. We've been too busy with impeding the..." said Octillia as she was cut off by the general ending the transmission. "rebels...(sigh) how did she find out about... Kova! I should've known that blabbermouth talked to the general. She's such an ass-kisser, I guess she's gunning for my position...figures," said an irritated lieutenant. She pulled out her flask and finished the liquor off and held it upside down. "Out...again, hope I can stay sober enough until this is all over and smack the ink out of that captain (deep breath)" said Octillia as she put the flask away.

Back in Octopolis at the capital palace, the general was leaving her office after cutting her call to the lieutenant. She headed for the royal hall to meet with the empress and her advisors. She approached a large ornate wooden door that was held open by the octarian royal guards. "General," they replied opening the door for her as she entered the royal hall. The hall like the doors was heavily decorated in japanese design and very large. Tapestry hung from the walls and ceiling. Ornated lanterns lit the room and kept an omniscient atmosphere inside it with a large red and trimmed carpet that lead to where the empress and her advisors would sit for government matters. The general slowly walked toward the other side of the large hall and gave a bow before addressing the empress.

"My empress," said the general as she took a knee to show her respect.

"You may stand general," said the empress.

The empress was a female older octoling with long white tentacles. Her eyes were hazel with purple eye marks around them. She wore a gold ornated octopus comb on her right large tentacle. Her clothing consisted of a white and gold decorated kimono with an octopus engraved in the front with other designs reminiscent of japanese culture. She was sitting on a pillow with two advisors on each side of her. two males and two females each wearing kimonos as well. A line of guards stood at attention in front of them wearing samarai armor and carrying katanas by their side. These were the royal guards that were solely loyal to the empress and would protect her at all cost.

"What brings me your prescience?" she asked the general.

"My empress, I bear news from the Neo-Octarian base about the vault. It appears two resaerchers under Lieutenant Octillia's wing have crossed sides and are aiding the rebels. I've been informed one is at the vault along with rebels and the other one is on their way now with assets that may allow a way inside the vault. The lieutenant has deployed the argonauts to stop them and ensure they never make it inside the vault. Rest assured my empress the rebels will be brought to justice and the peace treaty can continue. We've tried to get a hold of the inkling council but our signal is being jammed or blocked. We're not sure if it's the rebels or the inklings blocking the channel or not. We know that they have placed a naval blockade around our territory and our army is on standby to defend the valley if should the inklings decide to strike. let's hope it never comes to that my empress. We are so close to establish peace over all these years and its time to make amends so our race can thrive and live in harmony," said the general.

"I agree, I don't want war, like you said. It's vital for the octarians to establish peace with the inklings. I can trust you general that the rebels will be stopped and Octavio will brought to justice. By the way, what of the human? Did my ears deceive me or is their really a human alive?" asked the empress.

"Yes my empress but the lieutenant allowed him to go with the inklings... unfortunately," said the general.

"That's a real shame, I would've loved to meet a real human. Why was he let go to the inklings? Who ordered this?" asked the empress.

"It was sergeant Maxie's call. She was the one that rescued the human from the rebels back in inkling territory. Apparently he is a vital asset for the rebels as well, let's hope that the human doesn't fall in their hands," said the general.

"Why would the rebels want the human? And can we be sure he's in safe hands if he is with the inklings?" asked the empress who was not thrilled about the human being let go.

"How I see it with the human with the inklings, I don't believe the squidbeak squad would allow the human to fall back in rebel possession. My report tells me they had a hand in his rescue along with Maxie's team during their mission. We know how vigilant the squidbeak are and we can trust they'll keep him out of harms way. Being the last of his kind I was critical at the idea of the inklings taking him but that will put him further away from the rebels and their controlled territory," said the general.

"Maybe so general but I was never asked if I wanted to permit the human to go with the inklings. Why was this never brought to my attention? Maybe I wanted the human to come back to Octo Valley and welcome him to our society. I society that's evolved around ancient human technology and we have much to be thankful for and show gratitude to the human for all that we have learned from his race," said the empress still not happy.

"Empress, if I may interject," asked one her male advisors.

"Proceed but don't interrupt me again," said the empress unhappily.

"My apologizes empress but once the rebels are dealt with and this war ended we can reestablish the peace treaty with the human baring as a liaison and witness to the two races finally joining in harmony. It's our and the inklings technology that derived from his race. The human can act as a living and breathing bridge among our races and why not sign the treaty as well. This could finally put aside our century long feud among our races and to think what else this human knows knowledge of. Think of what we could learn," said the advisor.

"That...is a great idea, this would call for celebration once we make peace with the inklings once again. I congratulate you my advisor for you've brought hope to the kingdom. A world where inklings and octarians can come together with the help of a human. A race that was thought to be extinct has now returned as a sign of a forever peace," said the empress.

The other advisors clapped and congratulated the male advisor as well. "I whole heartedly agree my empress. The human is the keystone to a world without war. A world our races can finally come together," said the general.

"Make haste general, I want this conflict to end as soon as possible and I want the human accounted for the peace accord once the octo rebels are defeated and Octavio is thrown behind bars. You have my permission to leave," said the empress.

"Right away my empress, I can promise you victory and peace to come" said the general as she gave a bow and left the royal hall.

"My empress do you truly believe the human can bring together the races?" asked a female advisor.

"I'm sure of it my advisor. I have full faith that General Scarlet will lead us to victory and once peace has been established... An empress will need an emperor to rule by her side," said the empress with smile on her face.

* * *

Maxie was rushing outside of the abandoned city to get to the cephalon HQ before Blake was captured or worse... killed. She was overlooking the main highway leading into the tunnel. The checkpoint was clear with no guards. "Odd...where's the guards?" asked Maxie. She decided to investigate and slide down the rocky ridge and walked up toward the checkpoint with her octo shot raised. She spotted multiple ink puddles and octo shots strewn around at the mouth of the tunnel. "What the shell happened here?" asked Maxie as she bent over to study the scene. Radio chatter got her attention in the guard booth. She walked in and grabbed a radio, the source of the noise. "Radio...for reinforcements! (static) Base under attack (static) Defend...at all cost! (static)" The voice on the radio said. It was clear that it was an octo rebel crying for help but who was attacking the base? Was it Blake? Maxie was thinking.

"There's no time to lose! I gotta reach the rebel base before something happens to Blake," said Maxie as placed the radio on her side. She rushed down the tunnel eager to reach the Cephalon HQ. It wouldn't be until 15 minutes later she would reach the end of the dark long tunnel. She saw light at the end but also spotted a silhouette in the shape of an octoling. She crouched down still hidden in the darkness of the tunnel and aimed her weapon at the figure. As they drew closer into the mouth of the tunnel. Maxie lept from cover with her weapon drawn. "Freeze octoling!" she shouted. "Drop your weapon or I'll splat you!" she demanded.

"No! Don't shoot!" shouted the figure waving their hand.

"Lower your weapon now!" shouted Maxie, seeing the octo shot in the figures right hand. The figure threw the octo shot down and put their hands up.

"Now your charger octoling! And don't try anything!" ordered Maxie with her weapon still on the figure. The octoling slowly reached for their charger and laid it down before getting on her knees.

"Look I don't mean you any harm! Now let me go!" pleaded the octoling. Maxie stepped closer cautiously as she kicked the charger aside. She looked over the octoling but something wasn't making sense.

"Wait a minute...you're not a rebel, who are you? talk!" demanded Maxie. The octoling had purple tentacles instead of red and she was wearing old octoling armor with no red octopus sigil on it as a mark of the rebels.

"You don't have to talk to me like that! And no I'm not a rebel! (sigh) My name's Luna. I'm an octo outcast if your wondering," said Luna.

"Octo outcast?" replied Maxie raising an eye brow.

"Long story short...deserters, we left the army after Octavio was captured. Look the rebels have reinforcements coming and they'll be any moment now, unless you wanna fight them on your own!" exclaimed Luna who was starting to get agitated by the third degree.

"I heard the radio chatter and I'm well aware. What are doing here anyway outcast, deserter or whatever you are?" sneered Maxie.

"It's Luna! To think I used to act like you, a brainwashed grunt promised honor and dignity in the ranks...I don't miss it one bit, so if you wanna be a one octoling army dealing with those rebels then I suggest you let me go and get out of here while you can," suggested Luna as she stood up and brushed herself off.

"I'm not leaving until I find Blake...have you seen him come this way or not? Was he the one that attacked the base?" asked Maxie sternly.

"What? Blake? No! It was me, Izzy and..." started Luna as she paused and looked at Indigo's octoshot on the ground.

"What happened? What are not telling me!?" demanded Maxie.

"It's nothing of your concern..." said Luna with indifference.

"Then just step out of way hippie," said Maxie as she shoved Luna aside. Luna shot her a glare and walked toward the tunnel. She then turned back to the sergeant who was continuing toward the Cephalon HQ.

"Hey!...good luck..." said Luna with little enthusiasm. Maxie just stopped for a moment but wanted to say something. She decided to hold her tongue and pushed to focus on finding Blake.

Luna saw that Maxie wouldn't respond so she turned and walked down the tunnel. She wasn't eager to get back to the village as she knew no one would take the loss of their dear friend and caretaker Indigo. Ever since she and Luna left after the fall of Octavio and his regime. She and Luna had a dream of going to the surface and once they did, they were driven off by the inklings. Seeing them as still the enemy. Luna and Indigo headed back underground but established a camp in Octo Canyon instead of going back to the toppled army that Octavio once ruled over. The army reorganized under the new government body and the outcast camp soon grew to a village that housed octarian exiles and deserters escaping the valley for a new life. Indigo was sort of the village leader or caretaker but now that she had gave her life for what she believed in. Luna would more than likely take the role as the village caretaker. It would prove to be a sad and gloomy time for the gypsy village once she returned without Indigo by her side.

Maxie passed up the next checkpoint and entered the base grounds. Signs of a skirmish proved that the rebel base was under siege but surely this wasn't Blake's doings. Purple puddles were scattered about and she soon spotted the flipped over and heavily damaged Industrial Squee-G. Yellow ink trails were circled about as well as covering what was left of the octo baller and a missing twintacle operator. "Blake sure did a number on the rebels. If it was Blake, who I gotta find. he can't be far. He's probably infiltrated the base. Once I catch up to him we can put a stop to the rebels and Octavio," said Maxie. She soon heard the sound of rotors approaching. Maxie looked up and saw approaching octoseekers, presumably the rebel reinforcements. She hid behind the crashed Industrial Squee-G and watched the rebels dismount. An elite hopped out and scanned the area. "Alright troops! Secure the perimeter and the rest of you! Let's get inside the base and make sure that inkstain agent is taken care of. She will not stop our plans of taking over Inkopolis. She is to be shot on sight!" shouted the elite.

"Moving out!" shouted an octoling rebel as teams split up to scan the area while another team was slowly making their way to the main entrance of the outpost. "Inkstain agent? Agent 3 is here too?" exclaimed the sergeant. "She must be after the zapfish and Octavio, I gotta move before those piss ants beat me inside," said Maxie as she octo formed and swam inside the outpost before the rebels reached the entrance.

It had been 20 minutes before Izzy and the two octolings stormed the base with the fish robot. Blake was crawling through the vents to avoid detection. He reached a three way intersection and decided to go right. Once he came across another vent grate he saw below an empty room. Seeing the room was unoccupied he opened the grate and dropped down. He looked around and saw he was in the control room. One side of the room was the entry and the other were multiple tv screens and computer systems. He watched the screens until something caught his eye in one of them. A look of shock appeared on Blake's face as he saw Octavio and a familiar figure standing in front of the big octopus. Her long black and magenta tentacles gave away the inkling's identity. It was no one else than Callie but Blake could not believe his eyes. "Callie?" he replied still stunned.

He moved closer to the screen to make sure he was seeing what he didn't want to see. He watched Callie give a bow to Octavio before she hopped on his octobot and the two moved out of sight of the camera. "Callie...it can't be, no... Callie wouldn't just leave off with Octavio like that. Octavio must've done something to her...I won't let him get away with this. I promised Marie and the captain I would get Callie back and that's what I intend to do," said Blake. He turned toward the door way but the knob was turning before he grabbed it. "Oh carp, I gotta find a place to hide and fast," said Blake frantically. He dove behind a desk and saw two octolings walk in and head toward the TV screens.

With the door left open, Blake snuck past the two octolings and headed toward the doorway. He was nearly out until the alarms of the base came on. The octolings heard radio chatter of the base under attack and switched the camera feed to the outside. They watched two octolings and an inkling assault the main grounds with the industrial Squee-G they rode on. One of the octolings got on the microphone to alert all personnel to get to their battle stations and stop their attackers from getting inside the outpost.

"Lock down the elevators! Make sure they don't reach the lower levels of the base. We cannot allow them to stop the octozeppelin fleet from taking off. Let's move!" shouted the octoling as the other nodded. When they turned they saw Blake sneak out the door. "Oh hey...um, don't mind me I was just leaving," said Blake nervously.

"Get that fossil!" shouted the octoling before she shook her head not expecting Blake to be in the room with them. Blake raised his octo shot and blasted ink in on the octolings face and then shot the other in the stomach. They were both just momentarily incapitated as the octarian ink had little effect from Blake's weapon. Blake took this chance to dash out of the room before they got up.

"Go after him!" commanded the octoling shot in the face to the other. The other one shook off the hit she took and chased after Blake. The rebel then wiped her face and headed back to the microphone. "Now hear this! The fossil has infiltrated the base! He is to be apprehended! Use any force deemed necessary!" she shouted over the intercom. Blake was now being pursued by the octoling. "Halt!" she shouted at Blake as she shot at him. She quickly octo formed to catch up to him. Blake swerved around the corner of an intersection and spotted two approaching octolings. "There's that fossil! Get him!" they shouted aiming their weapons at him.

"Woah! Time for a U-turn!" he shouted. He rushed the other way with the octolings chasing after him. He spotted the little octopus that was pursuing him before. As she got closer Blake cut a flip over her as she changed back in an attempt to grab him. He landed back down as the other two octolings ran into her, knocking her down. "Ooof...idiots! Go after him! Don't let him escape!" she shouted as she and the other two continued their pursuit after Blake.

Ahead was a large steel door to his left as the hallway opened up into a bay area. "I gotta try and give them the slip. I can't run forever," he turned toward the steel door and rushed inside. Blake closed the door behind and locked it. "I saw that human go in here!" shouted an octoling outside the door as they finally caught up.

"He's in the armory, no need to fret that human can't produce ink!" shouted another. Blake was backed against the door and spotted an array of different ink weapons laid across the room and walls. "Human! Now's your chance to surrender! Come out quietly! You're trapped!" shouted the octoling.

Blake backed away from the door and then looked around for a way to get himself out of his dilemma. He searched around for any ink but all of it was octarian, ineffective against the rebels. "You have the count of three to come out and place your hands behind your head! 1..." demanded the octoling on the other side of the door.

"Blake you gotta act fast, what can you use?" exclaimed Blake as he desperately went through the weapons and supplies. "2..." counted the rebel. Blake still frantically looking for means of defense against the rebels, has no luck as he throws around equipment for anything. "3!" she finished.

The octolings pounded and kicked on the door. The steel proved too heavy and weren't making head way. More octolings showed up and looked at them. "What's going on!" shouted one of them. "The human's locked himself in the armory! We need an ink charge to get inside!" explained the octoling pounding on the door.

"Well, you're in luck, As a matter fact I have one on me," sneered the other octoling that showed up as she pulled out an ink charge.

"Give it here!" she demanded as she snatched it and placed the charge on the door. "Alright, timer is set! Get back! And storm the room once it's blown off it's hinges! That fossil's going down!" she shouted as the group got to a safe distance.

"Oh carp! They're gonna get in!" shouted Blake after hearing what they were doing. "It's no use I'm done for!" he exclaimed kicking an ink tank. Blake then stared at the ink tank. "This is crazy but what else can I do," he said. He kneeled down and grabbed the tank. He placed his hands against the tank and took a firm grip of it. "Ok Blake...concentrate," he said as he closed his eyes and focused on the ink tank. The timer on the charge was ticking as the octolings got ready to storm the room.

Blake was deep in concentration, blocking out the noise around him and his thoughts of getting captured. His eyes quickly jarred open and in front of him was a tank full of ink. "What the...how? That's...impossible," Blake was at a loss of words. How did ink appear in the tank. He picked it and examined it but something else didn't feel right. Blake felt strange, he felt empowered as if a mysterious force was charging him up like as if when he's using the specials that Sheldon had programmed in his watch. He looked and saw that his squid watch was glowing and on it was an emblem of a human shape inside a squid shape. It had already been activated but he didn't activate the special. What was happening? His whole body had a yellow aura around as he placed the ink tank on his back. "What is this?" Blake asked himself. He turned and spotted a splatling resting on crate so he walked up and grabbed it. A beep got his attention at the door followed by an explosion as the door flew back.

"Alright! Head inside and apprehend the fossil!" ordered one of the octolings as they gave a nod. They stormed the room but before they did, Blake dove behind the crate and clutched the splattling as they entered the room. Now was his chance to get the drop on them as he winded the splattling for a surprise attack on the unsuspecting rebels.


End file.
